I 


SLAVERY , 


THE   REMEDY; 


OR, 


PRINCIPLES    AND.  SUGGESTIONS 

FOR   A 

REMEDIAL    CODE. 

BY    SAMUEL  ;NOTT. 


Bonds  make  free,  be  they  hut  righteous  bonds.     Freedom  enslaves,  if  it  be  an 
unrighteous  freedom." — PAGE  :>S. 


FIFTH    EDITION; 

WITH 

REVIEW    OF    THE   DECISION   OF   THE   SUPOIE    COURT   IX   THE 
CASE   OF  DRED   SCOTT, 


NEW    YORK: 
.x  AP PL ETON    AND     COMPANY. 

BOSTON:    CROCKER  AND   BREWSTER, 

1857. 


NOTICE. 


THIS  fifth  edition  is  presented  simultaneously  to  many 
public  Officers,  Editors,  and  Citizens  throughout  the  United 
States,  in  the  hope  that  those  who  receive  it  will  render  their 
aid  in  promoting  its  circulation  and  influence.  It  is  believed 
by  those  patriotic  friends  who  have  provided  liberally  for  the 
distribution  of  this  and  previous  editions,  that  the  work  be 
longs  neither  to  Geographical  Section  nor  Political  party, 
but  that  it  unfolds  principles  and  methods  worthy  of  deep 
and  general  consideration.  The  warm  welcome  it  has  re 
ceived  from  some  of  the  largest  slaveholders,  as  well  as  from 
many  eminent  citizens  and  statesmen  both  North  and  South, 
justifies  this  belief. 

The  work  will  be  forwarded  by  either  of  the  Publishers 
on  receiving  38  cents  in  postage  stamps. 


SLAVERY 


AND 


THE     REMEDY; 


OR, 


PRINCIPLES    AND    SUGGESTIONS 

FOR  A 

BEMEDIAL      CODE. 

BY 

SAMUEL    NOTT. 


«  Bonds  make  free,  be  they  but  righteous  bonds.    Freedom  enslares,  if  it  be 
an  unrighteous  freedom."  —  PAGE  28. 


FIFTH     EDITION; 

WITH 

A  REVIEW  OF  THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUET  IN  THE 
CASE  OF  DRED  SCOTT. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 

BOSTON  :    CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER. 
1857. 


ADVERTISEMENT  TO  THE  FOURTH  EDITION. 

AT  the  close  of  the  year  1856,  —  a  year  of  remarkable  illustration  of  the 
principles  of  this  work  —  at  this  breathing  time  from  the  strife  of  sections,  so 
suitable  for  sober  and  benevolent  thought,  I  have  summed  up  the  whole 
matter  in  three  additional  pages  ;  closed  with  a  DEDICATION  TO  THE  PEOPLE 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  —  a  brief  and  earnest  Appeal  to  the  whole  UNION 
affixed,  not  prefixed,  because  it  proceeds  on  the  principles  which  the  work 
illustrates,  and  in  the  hope  that  when  the  reader  has  reached  it,  he  will  be 
prepared  to  welcome  it. 

The  author  has  received  with  great  satisfaction  and  thankfulness  the 
spontaneous  approbation  of  many  of  the  wisest  and  the  best,  both  North  and 
South,  —  such  that  he  is  encouraged  to  believe  his  work  not  unfitted  for 
the  high  purposes  at  which  it  aims,  —  to  engage  the  South  in  their  proper 
work  in  behalf  of  the  African  race,  and  to  unite  the  North  in  taking  the 
only  position  in  which  they  can  render  effectual  as  well  as  acceptable  aid. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Year  1855,  by 

CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts 


INTRODUCTION. 


WE  meet  Slavery  as  a  fact,  not  as  a  proposal.  We  have  to 
do  with  slaveholding,  not  with  slave-making.  We  seek  not  what 
should  be  done  if  there  were  no  slaves,  but  what  is  right  and  best 
now  that  there  are  more  than  three  millions.  We  seek  the  right 
method,  and  the  best  method  in  existing  circumstances. 

Admitting  the  evil  of  Slavery,  and  the  imperious  demand  for 
a  Remedial  Code,  but  denying  slaveholding  as  a  crime  per  se, 
and  immediate  abolition  as  the  remedy ;  —  asserting  that  the  Afri 
can  race  is  fixed,  and  must  be  provided  for  chiefly  on  our  soil,  and 
yet  approving  heartily  colonization  in  Africa ;  —  claiming  that  the 
climate  and  productions  of  the  South,  and  the  original  and  actual 
condition  of  the  enslaved  race,  forbid  the  methods  of  the  North  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ;  —  turning  the  question  from  mere  abolition 
and  mere  slavery,  to  the  well-being  of  a  people  providentially 
on  our  hands  ;  —  and,  lastly,  fixing  the  responsibility  upon  each 
slaveholding  State,  separately,  and  denying  it  to  the  United  States, 
— -  a  remedy  is  sought  suited  to  the  peculiar  case,  — •  a  REMEDIAL 
CODE,  at  least  an  experiment  of  relief  and  benefit,  which  wisely 
and  successfully  made  by  any  single  State,  might  lead  the  whole 
sisterhood  in  her  train. 

A  Christian  State,  philanthropic,  patriarchal,  is  bound  to  abolish 
just  so  much  of  Slavery  as  is  injurious,  and  no  more  ;  to  retain 


M27/0746 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

just  so  much  as  is  beneficial,  and  no  less.  The  Christian  patri 
arch  and  Christian  philanthropist  need  not  be  at  variance,  if  they 
will  but  unite  in  the  simple  attempt  to  promote  the  well-being  of 
the  slaves  in  and  with  the  well-being  of  the  whole  people. 

The  leading  point  to  be  kept  in  view  in  a  Remedial  Code,  is 
to  preserve  the  essential  quality  of  Slavery  without  the  evils 
which  are  not  of  its  essence :  fin  other  words,  to  secure  the  two 
counterparts,  the  being  "held  to  labor,"  and  the  being  held  to 
maintain  labor,  without  the  evils  which  now  attach  to  both  mas 
ters  and  slaves,  and  to  the  whole  community  directly  or  remotely 
connected.  A  Remedial  Code  must  aim  at  the  following  pur 
poses:  — 

1.  To  provide  for  the  slaves,  as  a  mass,  something  better  than 
freedom;  —  such   advantages   and  securities  as   shall   compensate 
their   being   held   to   labor  ;    so   that   a   considerate   slave   might 
prefer  the  price  of  freedom,  to  freedom   purchased  by  its  price ; 
and  the  whole  mass  of  slaves  have  an  interest  in  the  continued 
institution. 

2.  To  provide  for  the  masters  something  better  than  "  Slavery 
as  it  is ; "  a  more  available  labor  in  return  for  the  "  rations "  and 
privileges  of  the  laborer ;  better  service  with  less  difficulties  and 
fears  :    so   that  a  considerate  master  might   prefer  the  Remedial 
to  the  existing  code  ;  and   the  whole  body  of  masters  find  their 
interest  in  aiding  and  sustaining  it. 

3.  To   provide  for   the   free  blacks   and   those   becoming  free 
something  better  than   the  present  condition  of  their  class;    sat 
isfactory  to  themselves,  and  at  the  same  time  harmless  and  help 
ful  to  the  well-being  of  both  masters  and  slaves. 

4.  Incidental,   but   of    immeasurable   importance,  —  to   satisfy 
the  conscience  and  philanthropy  of  the  country,  not  merely  by 
the  "  juste  milieu,"  —  the  "  happy  medium  "  between  evil  extremes, 
—  but  to   give    full    scope   to   the   truest  benevolence,  the  most 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

faithful  duty,  the  most  earnest  Christian  charity;  in  which  the 
South,  taking  the  indispensable  lead,  shall  welcome  with  the 
whole  heart  the  aid  of  the  North. 

The  writer  is  deeply  sensible  of  the  difficulties  in  devising 
and  executing  such  a  code  and  with  such  results.  But  are 
there  not  greater  difficulties  in  either  other  alternative  ? 

If  Slavery  be  retained  "  as  it  is,"  can  it  be  without  difficulties 
and  woes,  without  fears  and  anxieties,  which  must  despoil  it  of  its 
essential  quality  of  useful  labor,  of  valuable  service  ? 

If  Slavery  be  abolished,  can  it  be  without  impracticable  difficul 
ties  ;  whether  at  the  South  in  providing  for  the  well-being  of 
both  races  in  their  new  relations,  or  at  the  North  when  the  tide 
of  freed  slaves  shall  come  in  like  a  flood, 

But  without  comparison,  such  a  code  can  be  attempted  and 
accomplished  only  in  a  Christian  country  and  by  a  Christian 
people.  To  a  Christian  country  and  a  Christian  people,  we  make 
our  appeal.  The  sense  of  responsibility,  the  benevolent  intention, 
the  reliance  on  infinite  strength,  must  be  supposed  in  order  to  the 
sincere  attempt,  and  successful  execution.  [  But  these  supposed, 
then  all  difficulties  are  provided  for,  if  the  attempt  be  right  and 

wise If  a   Remedial   Code   be  the   true  obedience  to  the 

golden  rule ;  if  Christian  good  will,  if  the  love  of  our  neighbor 
as  ourselves,  require  not  emancipation  but  amelioration,  who 
shall  dare  discourage  or  forbid  ?  Nothing  is  impossible  with 
God.  Nothing  is  impossible  to  him  who  believeth.  No  attempt 
within  the  warrant  of  Christianity  is  to  be  thought  impossible. 
Trust  and  try.  Attempt  what  God  requires,  and  "  account  him 
faithful  who  has  promised."  If  the  work  linger  and  seem  every 
day  more  and  more  impossible,  are  we  not  then  at  the  very  point 
for  Christian  faith ;  for  "  hope  against  hope,"  in  Him  "  who  calleth 
those  things  that  be  not  as  though  they  were."  Who  shall  dare  to 
say  that  the  Christian  Patriarchs  of  the  South,  and  the  Christian 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

Philanthropists  of  the  North,  will  not  unite  in  seeking  the  aid  of 
Heaven,  and  in  Heaven's  strength  prevail,  —  fixing  their  eye, 
amidst  the  darkness  and  the  storm,  upon  the  only  and  sufficient 
encouragement;  —  THE  THINGS  WHICH  ARE  IMPOSSIBLE  WITH 

MEN  ARE   POSSIBLE   WITH    GOD. 
WAKEHAM,  MASS.,  DEC.  1855. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ADMISSIONS,  DENIALS,  DISTINCTIONS. 

Pag* 

Slavery  an  Evil.  —  Mutual  Bondage.  —  Slave-holding  not  a  Crime.  — 
Slave-holding  and  Slave-making  distinguished.  —  Crime  denned, 
whether  with  Bond  or  Free.  —  Principle  of  dealing  with  stolen  Goods 
or  stolen  Men.  — Misnomers.  —  Fallacies.  — Distinctions  in  order  to 
a  Remedy H 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  AFRICA  IN  AMERICA. 

Impossibility  of  Removal,  requiring  a  Remedy.  — Results  of  Coloniza 
tion  for  one  third  of  a  Century.  —  Comparison  of  emigration  from  the 
British  Isles.  —  The  proper  work  of  the  Colonization  Society.  —  Room 
demanded  for  Africa  in  America 16 

CHAPTER   III. 

CLIMATE  AND   PRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  SOUTH.  —  ORIGINAL 
AND  ACTUAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  ENSLAVED    RACE. 

Methods  of  the  North  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  Race  forbidden  by  Climate 
and  Productions.  —  Mr.  Webster's  Speech  at  Rochester.  —  Forbidden 
by  Barbarism  at  Emigration,  and  actual  state.  —  Probable  Results  if 
African  Emigration  had  been  free.  —  The  sense  of  the  North  shown 
in  the  "  Black  Codes."  —  Comparison  of  Rome  and  Carthage 19 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  QUESTION  TURNED   TO  WELL-BEING. 

Not  Pro-Slavery  nor  Anti-Slavery,  but  Well-being.  —  Good  Bonds  re 
tained,  bad  Bonds  removed.  —  Competition  of  European  Labor.  — 
Things  not  Words.  —  Wrong  of  enslaving  changes  not  the  Question. 
The  Repentant  Pirate.  —  The  Common  Doom  and  its  Purpose.  — 
Bonds  make  Free.  —  Presumptuous  Franchises 23 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   V. 

AMERICAN  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  BARBARISM. 

Page. 

Comparison  of  the  Africo-American  with,  the  aboriginal  African.  —  The 
race  improved  by  Slavery,  evils  notwithstanding.  —  Dr.  Channing's 
testimony.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Payne's.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Miller's.  —  Liberia  a  wit 
ness.  —  Comparison  of  the  Africo-American  with  the  aboriginal  Amer 
ican.  —  Increase  and  Improvement  contrasted  with  Deterioration  and 
Extermination.  —  False  Explanation.  —  Conclusion  from  American 
Experiments  with  Barbarism , 29 

CHAPTER    VI. 

EUROPEAN  EXPERIMENTS  WITH   SERFDOM. 

Assumptions  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  — Its  Wisdom  from  Centuries 
preceding.  —  European  Experiments  suggesting  Prevention.  —  Misery 
of  the  Masses.  —  Paradox  of  Freedom.  —  Presumptuous  Franchises.  — 
Law  of  mutual  Interdependence  from  Job  and  the  Prophets.  —  Euro 
pean  Experiments.  —  France  before  and  since  1789.  —  Ireland. —  Sir 
Robert  Peel's  statement  of  the  Ulster  Experiment.  —  England.  — 
Blackstone  on  imperfect  application  of  Remedy.  —  Conclusion  there 
from 39 

CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   RESPONSIBILITY. 

Sense  of  Responsibility  assumed.  —  Responsibility  to  God.  —  No  Athe 
istical  Wisdom  for  social  Weil-Being.  —  Limits.  —  Mad  Astronomers 
and  Philanthropists.  —  Christian  Equalization  by  Inequality.  —  Indi 
vidual  Responsibility.  —  Responsibility  of  the  State  to  the  great  Over- 
ruler.  —  Outside  Responsibilities 43 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

IRRESPONSIBILITY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Irresponsibility  for  the  Constitution.  —  Not  Man's  Device,  in  1787,  but 
God's  Ordinance,  progressing  for  a  thousand  Years.  —  Wittenagemot. 

—  Magna  Charta.  —  Declaration  of  Rights.  —  Yirginia.  —  Plymouth. 

—  Royal  Charters    and  State   Claims.  —  Many    New    Englands.  — 
Growing  Unity.  —  Natural  and  artificial  Bonds , 48 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  IX. 

UNION   BY   SEPARATION. 

Page. 
United  because  separate.  —  Early  Advantages  of  France,  Holland,  and 

Spain. How    overcome.  —  Examples  at   Louisburg  and  Fort   du 

Quesne.  —  The  French  War  and  Conquest  of  Canada.  —  Error  of  1781 
acknowledged  by  cotemporaneous  Symbols.  —  Impossibilities  since.  — 
Impossibilities  now.  —  Dissolution  of  the  Union  impossible.  —  Sepa 
ration  only  by  War  ;  Peace  only  by  Union 55 

CHAPTER    X. 
THE  LAW  OF  EQUAL  FORCES. 

Equilibrium  of  North  and  South.  —  Necessary  Impotence  and  Irrespon 
sibility.  —  Results  of  Equilibrium  hitherto  and  hereafter.  —  Equal 
Impotence  of  North  and  South.  —  Union  not  hindered  or  forbidden 
thereby.  —  False  Views  of  Domination  and  Subserviency.  —  Scope  for 
Northern  Philanthropy.  —  Illustration  from  the  Cotton  Gin 62 

CHAPTER    XI. 
ADVANTAGES   OF   STATE   SUPREMACY. 

Acknowledged  Impotence,  the  strongest  Appeal  of  the  North  to  the 
South.  —  Slaveholding  States  alone  competent.  — Advantage  of  single 
Responsibility,  beginning  on  a  small  scale  and  extending  by  success 
ful  Experiment.  —  Examples  in  Mechanical  Improvements.  —  Steam 
Navigation.  —  Erie  Canal  and  the  Empire  State.  —  Political  Progress. 

—  Revolution  of  1688. — Birth  of   the  Union,    1690.  —  Capture   of 
Louisburg.  — Washington    and  Virginia.  —  Patrick   Henry.  —  Con 
stitutional    Convention.  —  Individual    Influence.  —  Jay,   Hamilton, 
and  Madison.  —  Moral  like  physical  Forces.  —  Impotence  the  Reser 
voir  of  Safety  and  of  Power 67 

CHAPTER   XII. 

THE   COMMON  TERRITORIES  AND  FREE   SOIL. 

Political  Right  affirmed.  —  Partnership  and  Dividends.  —  Surplus  Rev 
enue.  —  Surplus  Lands.  —  Letter  of  the  Constitution.  —  Impotence 

*  of  the  North  in  the  Strife  of  Equal  Forces.  —  Impotence  of  the  South 
as  well  as  the  North.  —  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  —  The  Better  "  Cordon." 

—  The  true  Desideratum.  —  Northern  Views.  —  Territorial  Commis- 


10  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

sion  and  Experiment.  —  "  The  Higher  Law,"  and  its  true  Applica 
tion.  —  Comparison  of  the  "  Law  of  Nations  "  and  the  Law  of  Ocean 
and  Shore 75 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  A  REMEDIAL   CODE. 

SECTION  I.  —  Mutual  Bonds  of  Labor  and  Capital.  —  Essential  quality 
of  Slavery  to  be  maintained.  —  Mutual  Dependence  requiring  Mutual 
Bonds.  —  Labor  to  be  secured  to  the  Slave  and  to  the  Master.  —  Modes 
of  securing  voluntary  Labor.  —  Modes  of  enforcement 87 

SECTION  2.  —  Marriage  and  the  Domestic  Relations.  —  Laws  of  Marriage 
and  Divorce,  and  related  Vices,  the  same  for  Bond  as  Free.  —  Slavery 
in  aid.  —  Reference  to  Jamaica.  —  Advantages  to  Masters.  —  Provi 
sion  for  Difficulties.  —  Southern  Propositions  and  Views 92 

SECTION  3.  —  Sales  and  Emigration.  —  Inconveniences  to  Sellers.  —  How 
provided  for.  —  To  Buyers.  —  Compensations.  —  Necessary  Emigra 
tion 94 

SECTION  4.  —  Slaves  to  be  capable  of  holding  Property.  — Master's  Claim 
undisturbed.  —  Present  Methods  of  acquiring,  holding  and  trans 
mitting,  legalized.  —  New  Methods  of  earning  and  investing 98 

SECTION  5.  —  Education  and  Religious  Worship.  —  Claims  of  the  Slave. 

—  No  just  Education  but  Religious.  —  Religious,  how  given.  —  With 
and  without  public  Provision.  —  Religious  Worship 102 

SECTION  6.  —  Protection  of  the  Laics.  Judicial  Provisions  and  Methods. — 
General  Laws  to  be  applicable  to  Bond  as  well  as  free.  —  Special  Ex 
ceptions.  —  Special  Laws  and  Repeals.  —  Slave  Officers  and  Courts. 

—  Mr.  Stcele.  —  Mr.  McDonough 104 

SECTION  7.  —  Franchises  and  Freedom.  —  Franchises  of  Slaves  as  Slaves. 

—  Personal  Freedom.  —  How  obtained,  and  its  Franchises.  —  How 
limited.  —  Resorts 108 

SECTION  8.  —  Methods  for  the  Free.  —  Registration.  —  Liberty  of  Settle 
ment  and  Employment.  —  Aids  to  Property.  —  Accustomed  Em 
ployments  commended.  —  Way  to  Rise.  —  Opportunities.  —  Colored 

Communities.  —  Liberia 110 

CONCLUSION , 115 

POSTSCRIPT.—  The  Contest  for  «  Speaker  "  illustrating  Chapter  X 117 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  REMEDY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ADMISSIONS,   DENIALS,   DISTINCTIONS. 

I  BEGIN  with  the  admission  that  slavery  is  an  evil  requiring  a 
remedy ;  an  evil  both  to  the  master  and  the  slave.  Without  deny 
ing  the  larger  share  to  the  slave,  the  master's  chains  are  scarcely 
less  galling,  and  his  sighs  for  relief  are  perhaps  the  more  earnest 
of  the  two.  "  Our  oppressed  brethren  at  the  South  "  are  white  as 
well  as  black.  The  slaves  need  to  be  released  from  the  actual  evils 
of  their  bondage  to  their  masters,  and  the  masters  need  to  be  re 
leased  from  the  actual  evils  of  their  bondage  to  their  slaves.  JXb 
doubt  slavery  is  an  evil,  imperiously  demanding  a  remedy  at  once 
the  best  and  the  earliest  possible  —  this  year  if  you  can ;  this  day, 
this  instant,  if  you  can.  If  the  slaves  can  be  transformed  into  an 
industrious  and  thriving  peasantry,  and  the  masters  into  industrious 
and  thriving  proprietors,  the  sooner  the  better.  Nothing  can  be 
more  desirable  than  a  code  truly  remedial ;  nothing  can  be  more 
the  absolute  duty  of  a  Christian  state  than  to  devise,  enact,  and 
execute  such  a  code  as  speedily  as  possible. 

Admitting,  then,  most  distinctly,  slavery  as  an  evil  requiring  the 
earliest  possible  remedy,  I  deny  it  as  a  crime  ;  as  "  a  sin  per  se  "  at 
this  present  instant,  before  the  earliest  possible  remedy.  Slavery  is 
an  evil ;  and,  of  necessity,  it  is  a  sin  to  make  a  slave,  or  to  make 
one's  self  a  slave ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  a  sin  to  hold  a 
slave.  You  are  not  responsible  for  an  evil  any  further  than  you 
can  prevent  or  cure  it.  (You  are  not  guilty  for  being  a  slave  when 

(11) 


12 

you  cannot  help  it  by  any  right  method  ;  neither  are  you  guilty  for 
being  a  slaveholder  when  you  cannot  help  that  by  any  right  method. 
The  entering  voluntarily  into  slavery  is  a  crime  ;  the  bringing  men 
into  slavery  is  a  crime.  So  is  entering  voluntarily  into  poverty,  or 
bringing  others  into  poverty,  a  crime ;  but  it  is  not,  therefore,  a 
crime  to  be  poor,  or  to  have  poor  neighbors.  So  it  is  with  sickness 
and  broken  bones.  It  is  a  crime  to  make  yourself  or  another  man 
sick,  to  break  your  own  or  another  man's  bones ;  but  not  to  be  sick, 
or  have  broken  bones,  or  to  be  surrounded  by  the  diseased  and 
maimed  until  by  all  right  methods  you  can  make  them  whole  and 
sound.  It  is  not  more  a  crime  to  be  a  slave  until  you  can  become 
rightly  and  advantageously  free,  or  to  hold  other  men  in  slavery 
until  you  can  rightly  and  advantageously  set  them  free  from  what 
ever  galling  bonds. 

Expanding  this  common  sense  only  on  one  side;  slave-holding, 
until  slave-freeing  can  be  accomplished  rightly  and  advantageously, 
is  not,  cannot  be  a  crime ;  is  not,  cannot  be  a  sin.  It  is  wrong  to 
enslave ;  but  slaves  being  found  upon  our  hands,  we  are  responsible, 
not  for  the  enslaving,  which  occurred  without  our  knowledge,  and 
before  our  existence,  but  for  remedying  the  evil  as  soon  as  we  can. 

To  apply  this  to  the  opprobrious  comparison  of  holding  stolen 
goods  :  To  steal  is  a  crime ;  to  hold  stolen  goods  from  the  owners 
for  yourself  is  a  crime.  The  partaker  is  as  bad  as  the  thief.  But 
it  is  not  a  crime,  but  a  virtue,  to  hold  stolen  goods  in  careful  trust, 
in  safe  keeping,  for  the  owner,  to  avail  the  utmost  for  his  ben 
efit.  *  A  stolen  looking  glass  !  a  stolen  watch  !  What ! 
as  soon  as  you  know  it,  as  quick  as  thought  and  muscle  can  act,  are 
you  to  dash  them  on  the  pavement  from  the  third  loft,  and  glory 
in  the  speed  with  which  you  clear  yourself  of  the  guilt  of  holding 
stolen  goods  ?  Far  better  hold  them  a  day,  a  week,  a  year,  ten 
years,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  restore  them  most  advantageously  to 
the  rightful  owner.  *  *  * 

A  stolen  man !  found  on  your  hands  !  in  your  house !  What  shall 
you  do  ?  The  goods  are  delicate,  and  may  be  injured  or  destroyed 
by  over  haste.  Beware  lest  you  kill  or  maim  him  in  your  hurry. 
File  gently ;  do  not  hew,  lest  in  loosing  his  chains  you  mutilate  or 
destroy.  Do  not  toss  him  headlong  from  the  uppermost  window  at 
the  hazard  of  every  bone  in  his  body.  Take  time  rather  to  lead 
him  deliberately  down  stairs,  through  safe  passages,  that  at  least  he 


13 

may  have  a  fair  escape  with  life  and  limb  as  he  goes  from  your 
hands,  or  you  may  incur  a  graver  guilt  than  that  of  holding  a 
stolen  man. 

Of  course  I  deny  the  duty  of  immediate  emancipation  on  the  part 
sf  those  to  whom  the  question  belongs ;  i.  e.,  without  such  provis 
ions  and  arrangements  as  require  time  —  as  must  fit  themselves 
gradually  to  the  people  concerned.  "  Institutions  are  not  made,  but 
grow."  If  I  could  persuade  the  legislatures  of ,  the  slaveholding 
States  to  abolish  slavery  January  1,  1856,  I  would  not  do  it.  If  I 
were  autocrat,  I  would  not  decree  it.  I  believe  there  is  a  more 
excellent  way  than  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation. 
Sat  citOj  si  sat  bene.  Soon  enough,  if  well  enough  :  too  soon,  if  not 
well  done. 

In  truth,  immediate  emancipation  is  impossible :  however  claimed 
in  theory,  it  cannot  be  practically  adopted.  Every  proposal  and 
attempt  carries  in  itself  the  principle  of  a  necessary  and  righteous 
delay.  Be  it  longer  or  shorter,  there  is  an  interval  in  which  the 
master  may  and  must  remain  a  master  —  in  which  the  slave  may 
and  must  remain  a  slave.  There  is  no  ultra-abolitionist  so  utterly 
lost  to  all  common  sense  as  to  deny  that  the  individual  master  may 
delay,  in  order  to  such  legal  arrangements  as  shall  secure  and  make 
advantageous  the  boon  he  confers  ;  or  that  the  State  may  take  time 
to  give  form  and  scope  to  the  enactments  by  which  it  undertakes  to 
emancipate.  There  is  an  interval  —  be  it  longer  or  shorter,  whether 
till  to-morrow  noon,  January  1,  or  some  more  distant  period  — need 
ful  for  a  good  and  permanent  result,  as  Christian  discretion  may 
decide.  The  crime  is,  the  disobeying  the  rules  for  the  interval,  and 
deferring  or  neglecting  the  good  and  permanent  result. 

I  do  not  forget  the  popular  phrases  assumed  as  establishing  crim 
inality,  such  as  "  the  holding  human  beings  as  property ; "  "  retain 
ing  the  earnings  of  the  slave  ; "  but  to  me  they  seem  to  make  the 
arguments  in  which  they  stand  the  merest  fallacies  —  arguments 
from  misnomers,  as  if  they  were  true  names ;  from  words  used  in  a 
peculiar,  as  if  they  had  been  used  in  the  ordinary  sense.  "  To 
insure  life  "  is  the  most  guilty  presumption  if  the  term  be  employed 
in  its  ordinary  and  not  in  its  technical  sense.  "  To  sell  the  time  " 
of  a  minor  is  arrogance  and  oppression  if  you  take  the  words  in 
any  but  the  peculiar  meaning  which  custom  has  settled,  and  then  it 


14 

may  be  as  kind  to  him  and  his  friends  as  it  is  just  in  you.  "  To 
hold  human  beings  as  property "  is  a  crime  when  the  terms  are 
understood  in  the  ordinary  sense  instead  of  that  which  custom  has 
settled;  and  then  it  may  be  as.  right  as  it  is  unavoidable.  The 
charge  is  a  mere  criminatio  verborum  without  regard  to  the  essen 
tial  qualities  of  the  act  condemned,  which,  in  the  circumstances  and 
for  the  time,  may  be  a  duty.  Undoubtedly  it  is  a  sin  to  "  hold  men 
as  property"  without  regard  to  the  nature  and  relations  of  the 
goods,  and  then  the  sin  lies  in  the  criminal  disregard.  So  it  is  folly 
to  hold  glass  as  property  without  due  regard  to  the  nature  and 
relations  of  glass  ;  but  the  folly  lies  in  the  disregard  to  its  brittleness, 
and  to  the  hard  substances  which  expose  it  to  be  broken.  It  is 
both  folly  and  crime  to  hold  human  beings  "  as  property  "  without 
regard  to  physical,  intellectual,  social,  and  moral  qualities  and  rela 
tions  ;  but  the  folly  and  wickedness  lie  in  that  criminal  disregard. 
So  far  is  the  idea  of  property,  in  its  limited  and  peculiar  sense,  from 
being  the  essential  quality  of  the  sin,  that  the  sin  would  be  substan 
tially  the  same  if  those  attributes  of  men  were  not  regarded  among 
your  free  neighbors  up  to  your  power.  If  the  African  population 
were  free  you  would  hold  your  relation  to  them  sinfully  if  you  did 
not  regard  them  in  all  their  qualities  and  relations  as  men. 

The  condemnation  for  "  withholding  the  earnings  of  the  slave  " 
is  equally  fallacious.  "  The  slave  does  all  the  work,  the  master 
takes  all  the  pay ! "  Does  he  indeed  ?  Whence,  then,  another 
plea?  viz.,  that  free  labor  is  more  profitable  than  slave  labor,  be 
cause,  forsooth,  the  slave  gets  a  greater  share  of  the  pay  than  the 
freeman  —  more  pay  for  less  labor  :  his  own  maintenance,  with  that 
of  his  children  and  parents,  and  security  for  the  future  to  boot ! 
In  truth,  if  the  needs  of  the  slave  are  duly  cared  for,  the  master 
does  not  "  withhold  the  earnings  of  the  slave."  The  capitalist,  em 
ploying  labor  on  such  terms  as  custom  authorizes,  and  the  laws  of 
capital  require,  —  the  only  terms  on  which  capital  can  for  any  length 
of  time  pay  labor,  —  is,  in  respect  to  withholding  earnings,  precisely 
on  the  same  footing  as  the  slaveholder,  with  the  exception  that  the 
merciful  slaveholder  has  the  worst  of  the  bargain. 

No  doubt  the  capitalist,  southern  or  northern,  may  withhold  from 
labor  its  rightful  earnings  ;  and  in  either  case  let  the  judgment  be 
according  to  the  fault.  But  when  the  slave  is  provided  for  accord- 


15 

ing  to  his  wants  and  his  master's  means,  then  his  earnings  are  not 
withheld,  but  bestowed  just  as  truly  as  are  paid  the  wages  of  the 
northern  laborer. 

Do  we  then  make  light  of  slavery,  or  become  the  advocates  and 
upholders  of  every  evil  in  connection  with  it  ?  Alas.,  if  we  do ! 
Let  not  the  reader  condemn  us  for  these  necessary  distinctions  until 
he  has  heard  us  through. 


16 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   PROBLEM   OP  AFRICA  IN  AMERICA. 

THE  evil  of  slavery  admitted,  the  next  preliminary  in  order  to  a 
remedial  code  must  be  the  settled  fact  of  an  Africa-American  pop 
ulation.  The  African  race  is  established,  and  must  be  provided  for 
chiefly  on  our  soil.  The  evil  is  to  be  remedied ;  it  cannot  be  re 
moved.  The  problem  of  Africa  in  America  is  the  problem  to  be 
solved. 

The  difficulties  which  beset  the  actual  case  are  such  that  the  the 
ory  of  removal  is  undoubtedly  the  simplest  and  easiest.  Yet,  if 
only  a  theory  utterly  impracticable,  it  leaves  the  question  of  a  reme 
dial  code  on  the  spot  to  our  earnest  and  determined,  if  indeed  still 
our  reluctant  consideration. 

That  the  African  race  cannot  be  removed,  seems  to  me  so  plain 
as  to  supersede  argument ;  as  to  need  only  to  be  asserted ;  all  assump 
tions  and  projects  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Be  it  for  good 
or  evil,  for  weal  or  woe,  the  African  race  has  become  too  numerous 
to  be  removed  —  cannot  be  removed  from  America  to  Africa  so 
rapidly  as  to  equal  the  natural  increase,  much  less  to  exceed  it. 
Nothing  but  some  criminal  check  put  in  the  way  —  some  principle 
of  decay  and  decrease  introduced,  added  to  compulsory  and  unmer 
ciful  transportation,  can  remove  the  one  half  of  the  natural  increase. 
The  evil  must  be  remedied,  not  removed.  The  sooner  this  point  is 
settled  the  better. 

This  assertion,  needing  no  argument,  might  find  argument  in  the 
facts  which  meet  the  writer  as  he  repeats  from  an  article  published 
in  1820.  "  The  Colonization  Society  is  a  noble  institution,  and  in 
behalf  of  Africa  we  have  no  doubt  will  effect  much  ;  but  it  will  and 
must  leave  us  an  increasing  black  population.  It  is  immensely  im 
portant  that  we  duly  consider  the  subject,  and  enter  without  delay 
upon  the  best  measures  for  reforming  and  improving  a  population 


17 

which  we  must  retain."  More  than  one  third  of  a  century  has 
passed,  and  how  stands  the  assumption  that  needs  no  argument  ? 
The  population  which  we  began  to  remove  has  since  then  doubled 
its  numbers  —  increasing  very  nearly  in  the  same  proportion  as  the 
white  race,  with  all  their  advantages  of  a  multitudinous  immigra 
tion  added  to  the  natural  increase. 

Let  the  most  favorable  view  be  taken.  Let  it  be  supposed  that 
the  prosperity  of  Liberia  shall  become  such  as  to  make  it  the  great 
point  of  attraction  for  the  colored  race  ;  that  open  space  shall  be 
found  for  the  multitudes  eager  to  emigrate,  and  that,  whether  by 
public  aids  or  private  means,  emigration  becomes  as  easy  as  a  large 
European  and  American  commerce  has  made  that  from  the  British 
Isles,  what  then  can  you  expect  ?  "  The  British  Islands  in  the 
year  1792  contained  a  population  of  fifteen  and  a  half  millions.  At 
the  present  moment  the  population  is  probably  not  less  than  thirty 
millions."  * 

The  largest  emigration  which  the  world  ever  saw,  finding  room 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  borne  on  the  wings  of  a  uni 
versal  commerce  over  every  sea,  has  but  doubled  the  population 
from  which  it  has  flowed.  If  America  could  send  to  Africa  with 
equal  facilities,  and  in  the  same  proportion,  she  would  but  increase 
the  number  of  her  Africo-  Americans,  and  at  the  end  of  sixty  years 
would  find  the  race  doubled  on  her  hands.  It  is  time  to  awake 
from  the  dream  of  removing,  to  the  earnest  and  determined  work 
of  remedying  the  evil. 

All  this  is  said  in  utmost  friendship  for  the  Colonization  Society. 
Though  it  cannot  remove  or  lessen  the  African  population  of  this 
country,  there  are  purposes  which  it  is  fitted  to  accomplish,  and  in 
its  proper  sphere  it  is  worthy  of  all  praise  and  cooperation.  It 
may  improve  Africo-  Americans  by  the  responsibilities  and  priv 
ileges  of  Liberia  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  by  showing  that 
the  welfare  of  the  African,  like  the  European  race,  must  be  found 
not  in  the  wealth  or  station  of  a  favored  few,  but  in  the  protected 
industry  of  the  many.  It  may  establish  a  civilized  and  Christian 
commonwealth  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  which  shall  aid  in  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  slave  trade,  and  in  extending  civilization  and  Christianity 


*  See  Blackwood's  Magazine,  March,   1845,  and  New  York  Observer, 
March  10. 


18 

over  that  wide  continent.  If  it  succeed  in  these  high  purposes,  it 
is  impossible  to  estimate  its  worth  ;  and  even  though  it  were  utterly 
to  fail,  the  attempt  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 

It  belongs  to  this  chapter  to  demand  room  for  the  African  race  — 
room  for  their  necessary  increase  and  for  their  prosperous  spread ;  for 
an  African  as  well  as  an  American  emigration  ;  a  Southern  West, 
suited  to  the  Southern  East,  as  well  as  a  Northern  West,  suited  to 
the  Northern  East.  In  a  word,  the  territorial  West  cannot  be  dis 
regarded  in  providing  for  the  welfare  of  the  African  race.  Their 
welfare  is  not  to  be  secured  by  limiting  them  to  their  present  boun 
daries,  but  by  giving  them  the  same  room  for  expansion  and  im 
provement  as  the  white  race. 

How  this  can  be  done  in  regard  to  the  present  slaves,  or  even  the 
present  free  blacks,  is  a  question  not  now  requiring  to  be  answered. 
We  only  demand  at  present,  as  a  necessary  condition  of  their  well- 
being,  room  for  expansion  in  connection  with  the  white  population 
of  the  South  —  a  belt  of  both  races  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
now  that  both  are  to  be  considered  as  equally  settled  in  the  land. 

The  great  southern  statesman  was  right,  not  only  in  view  of  the 
welfare  of  the  masters,  but  of  the  slaves,  in  claiming  that  the  African 
race  shall  not  be  shut  up  within  its  present  limits  —  that  the  South 
shall  have  an  emigrating  West  for  all  its  people  as  well  as  the 
North.  All  that  can  be  required  on  the  other  hand  is,  that  the 
emigration  from  the  South  shall  carry  with  it  no  element  of  misery 
•which  a  wise  benevolence  can  cast  off. 


19 


CHAPTER    III. 

CLIMATE  AND  PRODUCTIONS  ;   ORIGINAL  AND  ACTUAL  CONDITION 

THE  African  race  being  considered  as  established,  and  to  be  pro 
vided  for,  chiefly  on  our  soil,  it  must  next  be  claimed  that  in  our 
care  for  them  we  regard  the  climate  and  productions  of  the  South, 
and  the  original  and  actual  condition  of  the  race. 

As  to  climate  and  productions,  this  postulate  is,  of  course,  less  and 
less  needful,  as  we  approach  the  line  where  the  differences  vanish. 
Applying  ourselves  to  the  comparison  at  distant  points  —  to  South 
Carolina  and  Massachusetts,  for  instance  —  it  may  be  asserted,  as 
impossible  to  establish  northern  equality  at  the  South,  under  pro 
visions  and  laws  of  nature  which  produce  inequality ;  which  would 
have  produced  it  if  social  equality  had  existed  at  first,  and  which 
would  reproduce  and  maintain  it  over  any  enactments  to  the  con 
trary.  Mr.  Webster  stated  the  case  at  Rochester  in  1843,  bringing 
the  West  Indies  into  comparison  with  New  York.  The  nature  of 
the  crops,  the  production  in  one  climate  of  what  is  wanted  in  all 
climates,  and  therefore  requiring  to  be  exchanged  for  the  necessa 
ries  of  life,  destine  them  to  commercial  purposes,  and  not  to  imme 
diate  use.  There  must  be  cultivation  and  disposal  on  a  large  scale, 
with  capital  and  proprietorship  on  the  one  hand,  and  employment 
and  dependence,  in  a  word,  with  service,  on  the  other.  If  the  South 
had  been  settled  like  the  North,  chiefly  by  one  race ;  and  had  it 
begun  its  agriculture  on  the  same  scale  of  small  proprietorship,  the 
nature  of  the  case  would  at  length  have  brought  to  pass,  in  degree,  the 
distinction  which  now  prevails  —  capital  and  proprietorship  on  the 
one  hand,  and  dependent  service  on  the  other ;  of  masters  and  ser 
vants.  This  distinction  will  not  vanish  by  any  change  in  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery,  and  any  method  of  relief  must  regard  it  as  un 
changeable.  Even  if  the  African  race  could  become  sole  possessors 
of  the  soil,  by  an  equal  subdivision,  and  with  the  energy  and  skill 


20 

of  the  European  race,  the  consequence  would  not  be  northern 
equality,  but  southern  inequality.  The  smaller  number  would  be 
come  proprietors,  and  the  larger  number  dependent  laborers,  and 
the  distinction  would  obtain  among  them  of  masters  to  be  honored, 
and  servants  to  honor,  as  in  degree  in  all  lands,  and  the  special 
necessity  in  the  culture  and  disposal  of  southern  productions.  Even 
the  North  does  not,  cannot  carry  its  equalizing  principle  through  soci 
ety,  but  makes  and  shows  like  distinctions  in  proportion  as  it  be 
comes  in  like  circumstances ;  i.  e.,  wherever  capital  and  proprie 
torship  have  scope,  as  in  the  great  commercial  and  manufacturing 
arrangements. 

This  social  inequality,  which  cannot  be  prevented,  it  is  still  more 
difficult  to  set  aside.  If  there  were  not  the  actual  necessity,  there 
is  the  actual  fact,  which  it  is  impossible  to  annul,  not  only  without 
violating  all  the  rights  of  property,  but  to  annul  at  all.  So  imperi 
ous  is  the  actual  fact,  that  even  in  northern  countries  it  perpetuates 
itself,  and  admits  only  corrections  and  directions  of  what  cannot  be 
set  aside.  The  abolition  of  slavery,  and  an  agrarian  law,  could  not 
annul  what  nature  and  Providence,  what  climate  and  time,  have 
settled  at  the  South. 

But  there  is  also  to  be  regarded  the  original  and  actual  condi 
tion  of  the  enslaved  race.  The  North  is  settled  chiefly  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race ;  whether  superior  by  nature,  or  not,  it  is  needless  to  ask. 
At  the  time  of  their  emigration,  they  were,  at  this  present,  they 
are,  farther  advanced  in  civilization,  more  enterprising  and  perse 
vering,  with  more  science  and  art,  with  more  skill  and  capital,  and 
with  the  advantage  in  the  main  of  a  homogeneous  population.  The 
mere  abolition  of  slavery,  with  the  franchises  of  the  North,  and  an 
agrarian  law  besides,  would  not  give  to  the  Africans  of  the  South, 
at  the  instant,  what  they  had  not  when  they  came,  and  have  not 
now ;  what  their  fathers  had  not,  and  did  not  leave,  as  seed  sown 
for  their  inheritance,  viz.,  the  enterprise,  and  perseverance,  and  skill, 
and  capital  of  the  white  race.  No  law  of  equal  privilege  could 
remove  the  actual  difference,  any  more  than  it  could  have  removed 
the  actual  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain 
and  of  the  coast  of  Guinea  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  In  a 
word,  if  slavery  has  hindered  the  well-being  of  the  slaves  and  of  the 
whole  South,  it  is  not  slavery  merely.  In  degree  at  least,  it  is  a 
lower  civilization ;  a  greater  barbarism  and  poverty  at  the  starting- 


21 

point  of  emigration.  The  South  less  blessed  than  the  North,  because 
slavery  has  cursed  them !  and  ready  to  be  as  blessed  the  moment 
slavery  is  abolished !  Strange  delusion !  which  forgets  that  almost 
half  the  population  of  the  South  were  African  barbarians,  without 
enterprise,  and  perseverance,  and  skill,  and  capital,  and  therefore  a 
dead  weight,  almost,  upon  the  land  which  they  came  to  inhabit. 
Many  of  the  disadvantages  of  the  South  would  have  existed,  if  her 
African  population  had  been  free  from  the  first ;  and  would  remain 
and  grow,  if  an  ill-advised  and  ill-regulated  freedom  were  now  to 
be  bestowed. 

Let  it  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  the  immigration  of  the  south 
ern  negroes  had  been  free ;  that  the  colonists  from  Africa,  like  the 
colonists  from  Europe,  had  come  of  their  own  accord,  yet  with  the 
difference  in  fact  existing  between  the  Anglo-Saxon  inhabitants  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  Guinea.  Can  it 
be  supposed  that  mere  freedom  would  have  put  them  and  their  pos 
terity  on  an  equality  with  the  white  race,  and  have  given  to  the 
whole  unhomogeneous  South  equal  advantages  with  the  homogene 
ous  North?  Must  not  the  great  mass  of  the  African  race  have  been 
"  held  to  labor  "  by  the  race  which  was  most  advanced  at  the  start 
ing-point,  and  have  found  in  that  doom  their  best  advantage ;  and 
the  surest  misery  if  they  neglected  or  refused  the  boon  ?  Nay,  un 
less  early  and  wise  precautions  had  been  employed,  must  there  not 
have  been  a  disadvantage  to  the  State  from  the  discordance  of  its 
original  settlers  ?  Would  the  African  race  have  been  at  this  mo 
ment  an  equal  pillar  of  the  public  weal  with  the  one  half  of  the 
homogeneous  people  of  the  North  ?  Surely  it  is  not  slavery  alone 
which  requires  to  be  remedied,  but  evils  which  came  with  the  race, 
and  will  remain  after  any  mere  decree  of  abolition,  and  which 
require  a  remedial  code  suited  to  the  actual  case. 

The  disadvantage  supposed,  even  with  a  free  African  emigration, 
must  of  course  have  been  enhanced  by  the  special  differences  of  the 
two  races ;  such  that  they  could  not  readily  mingle  and  become 
homogeneous.  No  matter  which  race  be  of  superior  mould ;  it  is 
enough  that  they  are  unlike  —  that  the  African  is  not  equally  agree 
able  to  the  European  as  his  own  blood,  for  other  reasons  besides 
color,  in  which  they  do  not  differ  greatly  from  the  straight-haired  and 
fine-featured  people  of  the  East.  The  physical  characteristics  of 
the  negro  must  have  aided  in  dooming  him  to  servile  employments, 


22 

in  fixing  him  in  the  lower  stratum  of  society,  and  at  the  same  time 
in  putting  the  whole  southern  community  under  the  disadvantage 
of  an  unhomogeneous  people,  requiring  peculiar  remedies. 

Nay,  more ;  so  certain  is  the  operation  of  natural  causes,  that  we 
aiay  safely  say,  if  the  North  had  been  under  the  same  disadvantage 
of  settlement,  and  had  thence  inherited  even  a  free  African  popu 
lation  in  the  proportion  of  one  third,  neither  that  one  third,  nor  the 
uncongenial  mass,  would  show  the  present  North  as  it  now  stands, 
in  contrast  with  the  present  South.  The  contrast  between  Ohio  and 
Kentucky,  between  New  England  and  the  Carolinas,  had  not  been 
then  as  now.  Millions  of  free  blacks,  free  from  their  very  emigra 
tion  from  the  barbarism  of  Africa,  with  twofold  as  many  millions 
of  free  Anglo-Saxons ;  —  who  can  tell  what  might  have  been  the 
disadvantage  to  either  or  to  both?  whether  more  or  less  than  slavery 
itself  has  brought.  Who  can  question  that  the  North  could  not 
have  been  the  North  it  is,  if  a  good  Providence  had  not  given  us  a 
homogeneous  and  a  civilized  people,  with  small  exception,  from  the 
first  ?  And  can  any  one  think  that  slavery  abolished,  and  the  pres 
ent  slaves  remaining  free  on  southern  soil,  would  put  the  South  on 
the  footing  of  the  North  ?  Nay,  who  dares  to  say  that  a  free  emi 
gration  of  the  African  race  into  all  our  Anglo-Saxon  franchises  and 
privileges  would  not  hinder  or  blast  our  prosperity  even  now? 
"  The  black  code  of  Ohio  "  indicates  a  sense  of  exposure  —  is  her 
acknowledgment  that  a  "  white  code "  does  not  provide  for  the 
wants  of  an  unhomogeneous  mass  —  is  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
North  that  a  remedial  code  for  the  South  must  regard  the  origi 
nal  and  actual  condition  of  its  servile  race.  There  may  be,  and 
now  that  the  difficulty  exists,  there  must  be,  sought  a  method  of 
relief ;  but  there  is  an  actual  hinderance  at  the  South  in  the  incon- 
geniality  of  its  people.  Carthage,  under  the  disadvantage  of  bloods 
that  would  not  mingle,  could  not  cope  with  Rome,  nor  establish  her 
own  durable  prosperity.*  If  we  are  allowed  to  hope  for  the  future 
well-being  of  the  South,  notwithstanding  the  same  disadvantage,  it 
is  because  History  and  Christianity  unite  to  give  us  a  wisdom  which 
Carthage  had  not  —  the  wisdom  to  bless,  in  our  midst,  and  with  our 
selves,  a  people  whom  we  cannot  remove. 

*  Arnold's  Rome,  Vol.  II.  Chap.  XXXIX. 


23 


CHAPTER     IV. 

THE    QUESTION    TURNED    TO    WELL-BEING. 

PRO-SLAVERY  !  ANTI-SLAVERY  !  And  are  these  the  only  words 
which  can  meet  the  case  of  the  servile  population  of  the  South,  or 
of  the  mixed  whole  of  masters  and  servants,  bond  and  free  ?  Are 
these  the  only  words  which  can  give  direction  to  our  discussions,  and 
must  we  take  part  for  the  one  or  the  other  ? 

On  the  one  hand,  does  the  word  pro-slavery  fill  the  desire  of  the 
Christian  patriarch,  in  behalf  of  his  family  around  him  ?  Does  it 
satisfy  a  patriarchal  State  ?  Is  the  institution  in  its  actual  form, 
slavery  as  it  is,  so  truly  and  completely  patriarchal,  as  to  be  worthy 
to  be  retained  and  cherished,  with  whatever  woe  as  well  as  weal,  to 
both  masters  and  servants,  now  and  forever  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
does  anti-slavery  embrace  all  that  the  Christian  philanthropist,  all 
that  the  philanthropic  State  should  seek,  in  order  to  carry  out  hon 
estly  and  faithfully  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself "  ?  Is  anti-slavery,  in  its  actual  idea  and  programme,  the 
desideratum  for  the  enslaved  race  —  for  either  race  —  for  both  races 
in  their  necessary  dwelling  together,  so  clearly,  that  it  deserves  to 
be  the  only  and  the  headlong  aim  ?  Nay,  do  the  Christian  philan 
thropists,  do  the  philanthropic  States  of  the  North,  see  anti-slavery 
and  immediate  abolition  in  so  clear  a  light,  with  so  sincere  an  eye, 
that  they  are  ready  to  welcome  to  their  own  bosom  a  free  negro 
population,  in  the  proportion  of  one  third  or  one  half  of  the  whole, 
without  question  as  to  the  boon  or  the  burden  ?  as  to  the  help  or 
the  hinderance  of  their  future  prosperity  ?  as  to  the  advantage  even 
of  that  third,  or  moiety,  itself? 

Anti-slavery  !  pro-slavery  !  Is  it  absolutely  settled  that  the  par 
ties  who  reproach  each  other  with  these  names  can  have  no  other 
relation  but  as  opposites  and  enemies  ?  Is  there  not  something  to 
seek  after,  ay,  and  to  find,  which  neither  word  signifies  ?  a  question 


24 

of  well-being  superseding  both,  above  and  beyond  both ;  in  seeking 
which  the  Christian  patriarch  and  the  Christian  philanthropist  may 
earnestly  and  cordially  unite  ? 

The  question,  then,  of  well-being,  and  not  of  abolishing  or  retain 
ing  slavery,  is  claimed  as  the  question  which  the  Christian  patriarch 
and  philanthropist,  which  patriarchal  and  philanthropic  States,  have 
before  them  —  a  question  just  as  open,  as  with  regard  to  any  other 
degraded  and  afflicted  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  each  requir 
ing  an  answer  in  view  of  their  whole  history  and  condition  ;  suited 
at  once  to  the  great  principles  of  justice  and  kindness,  and  to  its 
own  specific  degradation  and  affliction.  The  question,  What  can 
be  done  for  the  well-being  of  the  servile  population  of  the  South  ? 
is  just  as  free  for  inquiry  and  discussion  as  concerning  any  other 
unfortunate  portion  of  mankind  —  the  Hindoos,  the  Chinese,  or  the 
present  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  Guinea ;  each  requiring  an  an 
swer  differing  from  the  others,  and  all  from  the  true  answer  for  the 
Africans  of  the  South. 

Unhappily,  this  question  of  well-being  is  kept  out  of  sight  amidst 
the  earnest  discussions  of  the  times.  On  the  one  hand,  personal 
freedom  is  assumed  as  an  absolute  good,  and  in  this  "petitioprin- 
cipii  "  the  great  question  of  practical  well-being  is  altogether  over 
looked,  and  with  it  the  imperative  duty,  the  glorious  opportunity,  of 
blessing  the  peculiar  people  on  our  hands,  by  philanthropic  regula 
tion  and  care ;  and  on  the  other,  slavery  as  it  is,  is  claimed  as  the 
absolute  necessity  of  the  slaveholding  States,  instead  of  patriarchal 
amelioration,  up  to  the  point  of  that  well-regulated  freedom  in  which 
philanthropist  and  patriarch  should  meet.  The  Christian  patriarch 
and  the  Christian  philanthropist  need  not  be  at  variance,  if  they 
will  but  unite  in  the  simple  attempt  to  promote  the  well-being  of 
the  slaves,  in  and  with,  as  its  only  possible  condition,  the  well-being 
of  the  whole  people. 

No  doubt,  in  some  sense,  it  were  easier  to  cut  all  bonds  and  leave 
the  slaves,  set  free,  to  shift  for  themselves  as  then  best  they  might. 
But  is  this  the  method  for  a  Christian  State  ?  for  the  Christian  phi 
lanthropist  and  patriarch  ?  Can  the  evils  of  slavery  be  rectified  by 
the  mere  act  of  release  ?  the  mere  loosing  of  bonds  ?  without  pre 
serving  whatever  good  may  at  present  exist,  and  providing  that  the 
future  may  be  safe  and  prosperous,  according  to  our  power  ? 

Admit  the  evil  to  be  such  that  no  man  can  rightly  reduce  another 


25 

man  to  slavery,  any  more  than  to  poverty,  sickness,  or  broken  bones; 
admit  that  slavery  as  it  is,  has  woes  more  than  belong  to  a  merely 
servile  condition,  and  demanding  the  speediest  possible  remedy ;  it 
does  not  follow  thence,  that  the  whole  condition  of  the  enslaved 
requires  to  be  changed,  without  discrimination  of  the  evil  and  the 
good.  You  must  remove  the  evil,  but  you  must  not  remove  the 
good ;  you  must  remove  the  injurious  and  destructive,  but  you  must 
not  remove  the  beneficial  and  conservative. 

This  duty  of  holding  fast  the  good  and  casting  off  the  evil  only, 
is  made  imperative  by  manifest  disabilities  in  the  people  whose  well- 
being  we  seek ;  with  the  inheritance  of  less  enterprise,  and  energy, 
and  perseverance,  and  skill,  and  capital,  than  the  Saxon  race  ;  nay, 
with  less  capacity  of  available  labor  than  the  myriad  crowds  from 
European  lands,  and  incapable  of  competing  with  Irish  and  German 
toil.  Have  we  nothing  to  do  but  to  cut  their  bonds  and  leave  them  to 
themselves  ?  Can  we  turn  them  off  to  be  underbidden  and  overridden 
and  oppressed,  to  be  driven  out  before  skill,  and  capital,  and  labor, 
miserable  and  destitute,  to  find  their  only  relief  in  wasting  from 
the  earth,  like  the  aboriginal  freeman,  the  red  man,  before  them  ? 
Can  we  release,  not  merely  the  slave  from  his  master,  but  the  mas 
ter  from  his  slave  ?  Can  a  Christian  State,  philanthropic  and  patri 
archal  in  very  truth,  release  the  master  from  his  slave,  without 
securing  to  the  slave  his  labor  and  his  pay ;  or  the  slave  from  his 
master,  without  securing  labor  for  pay  ?  A  Christian  State,  phil 
anthropic  and  patriarchal,  is  bound  to  abolish  just  so  much  of 
slavery  as  it  is,  as  is  injurious,  and  no  more ;  to  retain  just  so  much 
as  is  beneficial,  and  no  less ;  seeking  in  very  deed  the  well-being  of 
the  enslaved  race,  and  that  common  good  in  which  alone  their  wel 
fare  can  be  found. 

The  Christian  patriarch  then,  the  patriarchal  State,  instead  of 
cleaving  to  slavery  as  it  is,  will  inquire  if  there  are  not  points  in 
which  woe  can  be  made  less,  and  weal  advanced ;  points  of  well- 
being  to  be  regarded,  which  secured  would  change  the  meaning  of 
the  odious  word,  and  exalt  the  slaveholder  into  a  Christian  patriarch. 
The  Christian  philanthropist  also,  the  philanthropic  State,  instead 
of  abolishing  the  institution,  is  bound  to  inquire  whether  emancipa 
tion  at  the  instant,  without  conditions,  will  prove  the  remedy  it 
seems ;  whether  it  might  not  abolish  good  as  well  as  evil,  and  bring 
evil  as  well  as  good ;  might  not  miss  points  of  well-being  to  the  utter 
3 


26 

failure  of  the  philanthropic  intent ;  whether,  slavery  abolished  and 
the  slaves  made  free,  those  freemen  might  not  find  a  doom  which 
would  crave  the  boon  of  a  truly  patriarchal  slavery  ?  The  question 
is  on  things,  not  words ;  on  substantial  blessings,  not  empty  names. 
Change  the  condition  of  the  slaves  into  well-being ;  make  slavery 
truly  patriarchal,  and  the  name  will  suit  its  meaning  to  the  change. 
Emancipate  the  slaves  into  the  freedom  of  the  North,  into  competi 
tion  with  Anglo-Saxon  enterprise,  and  energy,  and  skill,  and  capital, 
backed  by  European  labor  without  count,  and  African  freedom  may 
come  to  mean  the  extremity  of  want  and  woe.  The  slaves  deserve 
a  better  boon  than  such  a  freedom.  Their  rights  forbid  such  a  wrong. 
Their  claims  upon  the  soil  require  to  be  secured  in  the  union  of  phil 
anthropic  and  patriarchal  care. 

I  cannot  see  that  this  claim  of  a  right  care  and  direction  to  be 
preserved,  while  all  wrong  care  and  direction  are  set  aside,  is  at  all 
forbidden  by  the  fact  that  the  negro  race  were  brought  into  bondage 
by  unquestioned  wrong  doing  on  the  part  of  our  predecessors,  or 
even  had  it  been  by  ourselves.  If  a  piratical  corsair,  in  mid-ocean, 
were  to  be  visited  by  a  Christian  repentance,  it  could  not  demit  all 
the  authority  with  which  it  found  itself  invested,  but  would  retain 
what  was  needful  for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  its  captives  and  the 
common  good  of  all  —  the  power  to  navigate  and  govern  the  ship, 
and  bring  her  and  her  inmates  to  the  haven.  Christian  repentance 
would  forbid  the  giving  up  the  ship  to  incompetent  navigators,  or 
the  mixed  society  on  board  to  anarchy  and  misrule.  A  repentant 
pirate  would  retain  charge,  and  maintain  authority ;  would  give  up 
the  injurious  and  destructive ;  would  preserve  the  beneficial  and 
conservative. 

But  this  demand  of  well-being  is  not  to  be  understood  as  requir 
ing  security  from  all  evils.  That  were  a  claim  beyond  not  the  doom 
only,  but  the  needs  of  man ;  beyond  the  merciful  intention  to  make 
this  world  a  school  of  discipline.  That  were  to  contravene  the  de 
cree,  and  the  consolation,  and  the  direction,  and  the  benediction  ; 
"  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt  eat  bread ;  —  The  poor  ye 
have  always  with  you ;  —  In  this  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ; 
but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world  ;  —  Faint  not  when 
thou  art  rebuked ;  —  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens ;  —  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me."  No  law  of  man,  no  preventive  arrangement,  no 


27 

binding  or  loosing  can  set  aside  what  God  designs  of  want  and  suf 
fering,  and  mutual  aid  and  relief.  Hunger,  and  thirst,  and  naked 
ness,  and  sickness,  and  calamity,  and  the  care  of  providing  for  them, 
will  remain,  changing  and  interchanging  in  the  most  Christian  com 
munities,  under  the  best  productive  and  preventive  regulations,  phi 
lanthropic,  patriarchal,  to  the  utmost  point ;  and  this  too,  how  far 
soever  removed  from  that  "  over  population,"  so  wont  to  be  assumed 
as  the  exponent  of  European  woes.  The  law  of  human  well-being 
is  not,  that  mutual  suffering  and  sympathy  shall  cease :  no,  neither 
with  the  high  nor  the  low  ;  neither  with  the  rich  nor  the  poor ;  nei 
ther  with  the  master  nor  the  slave.  The  rich  are  not  exalted 
above  —  in  many  respects  are  exalted  into  wants  and  woes ;  the 
poor,  whether  they  be  few  or  many  ;  the  "  masses  "  of  the  poor,  are 
not  depressed  below  the  common  ground  of  trial  and  of  sympathy ; 
giving  as  well  as  receiving  relief.  Such  is  human  lot  for  human 
good  ;  for  the  trial  and  strengthening  of  the  suffering  and  relieving 
alike ;  for  the  forming  of  character,  the  true  boon  of  this  life,  and 
the  true  preparation  for  the  life  to  come.  Neither  the  giver  nor  the 
receiver  of  the  cup  of  cold  water  shall  lose  his  reward. 

Neither  does  our  claim  of  well-being  require  release  from  all 
bonds.  The  principle,  It  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone,  belongs  to 
all  right,  and  to  all  rectified  human  obligations.  The  high  cannot 
say  to  the  low,  the  low  cannot  say  to  the  high,  the  slave  cannot  say 
to  his  master,  the  master  cannot  say  to  the  slave,  I  have  no  need 
of  thee.  The  State  has  no  wisdom,  skill,  nor  power,  that  it  can 
make  its  members  free  of  each  other.  No  decree,  no  law,  can  make 
man  free  of  man,  save  by  binding  man  to  man,  in  mutual  obliga 
tions.  Bonds  make  free.  Freedom  from  all  bonds  is  the  worst 
slavery.  No  community  can  make  its  members  free,  break  what 
ever  fetters,  abolish  whatever  slavery  it  will,  without  retaining  the 
bonds  which  unite  men  to  each  other ;  can  emancipate  the  parts, 
without  regarding  the  rules  by  which  the  whole  can  have  a  health 
ful  subsistence.  No  community  can  make  its  members  free  to  bread 
without  the  sweat  of  the  brow  ;  to  wages,  to  "  a  living,"  without  work ; 
nor  its  casual  or  providential  heads,  its  hereditary  or  its  moneyed 
aristocracy,  its  lords,  its  masters,  its  employers  of  every  grade, 
to  be  served  without  rendering  a  reward ;  to  retain  their  capital 
without  making  it  fulfil  its  proper  function  of  providing  labor  and  a 
living  to  their  fellow-men ;  to  luxurious  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of 


28 

the  earth  without  equalizing  those  fruits  according  to  the  relation  in 
which  they  stand  to  their  kind.  The  presumptuous  franchise  will 
destroy  itself. 

These  great  principles  cannot  be  set  aside  in  attempting  a  Re 
medial  Code  for  the  South.  There  are  bonds  to  be  retained  on  the 
master  as  well  as  on  the  slave,  on  the  slave  as  well  as  on  the  mas 
ter.  The  question  is,  What  is  for  the  well-being  of  the  people  ? 
whether  by  bonds  retained  or  by  bonds  loosed.  Bonds  make  free, 
be  they  but  righteous  bonds.  Freedom  enslaves,  if  it  be  an  un 
righteous  freedom.  The  poet's  lesson,  Be  bold,  be  bold,  reiterated 
and  yet  corrected,  Be  not  too  bold,  may  be  applied  to  the  indiscrim 
inate  and  absolute  claim  for  freedom.  Be  free ;  be  free  ;  be  free ; 
cannot  be  properly  claimed  of  any  people,  save  with  that  regard  to 
its  condition  which  shall  give  meaning  and  importance  to  the  cau 
tion,  Be  not  too  free  ! 


29 


CHAPTER    V. 

AMERICAN    EXPERIMENTS    WITH    BARBARISM. 

IN  aid  of  our  demand  that  well-being  shall  be  the  question,  cer 
tain  comparisons  force  themselves  upon  our  consideration. 

And  first,  of  the  Africo-American  with  the  aboriginal  African. 
Unquestionably  jSlavery,  with  its  bonds  upon  the  master  and  the 
slave,  has  afforded  some  facilities  for  promoting  the  well-being  of 
such  a  people,  for  forestalling  evils,  for  securing  advantages  which 
neither  their  native  freedom  nor  an  unconditional  emancipation  can 
give.  Without  withdrawing  one  iota  from  the  just  condemnation 
of  the  slave  trade,  the  enslaving  which  began  our  woes,  or  of 
slavery  as  it  is,  it  may  be  boldly  claimed,  That  the  facilities  afford 
ed  by  slavery  have,  notwithstanding  its  great  and  crying  evils,  actu 
ally  improved  and  exalted  the  race?)  If  still  suffering  from  the 
barbarism  from  which  they  sprang,  and  therefore  requiring  methods 
different  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  most  certainly  they  are  not 
the  barbarians  they  were ;  are  not  the  barbarians  which  their  Afri 
can  contemporaries  are.  African  barbarism  remains  what  it  was 
two  hundred  years  ago.  African  barbarism,  translated  and  enslaved, 
has  changed  into  comparative  civilization,  by  the  advantages  and 
notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  of  slavery.  The  African  of 
America  is  not  so  degraded  as  in  our  forgetfulness  we  allege  ;  but 
has  made  large  advance  beyond  the  African  barbarian  from  whom, 
he  sprang  ;  beyond  his  cotemporary  of  the  Coast  of  Guinea.  The 
free  African  "  kept  down,"  "  prevented  from  rising,"  by  the  influ 
ence  of  slavery,  as  is  asserted ;  nay,  the  well-bred  slave  himself, 
and  even  the  mass  of  Africans,  bond  and  free,  have  actually  risen 
far  above  their  original  degradation ;  have  actually  become  more 
capable  of  labor,  more  industrious,  more  vigorous,  more  persever 
ing,  more  skilful,  wiser,  than  their  cousins  of  Congo  and  Benin. 
Your  educated  preachers,  your  learned  slaves,  your  eloquent  advo- 
3* 


30 

cates  of  emancipation,  and,  as  truly,  your  diligent  and  faithful 
slaves  in  the  field,  and  the  house,  and  the  shop,  and  the  counting- 
house  also,  and  your  multitudes  of  thriving,  discreet,  capable  Free 
Blacks,  many  no  doubt  in  the  lower,  but  not  a  few  in  respectable 
stations  of  life,  give  proof  of  the  assertion  over  all  the  land.  Af 
rica  in  America  is  superior  to  aboriginal  Africa.  "The  colored 
man  is  not  a  savage,"  says  Dr.  Channing  in  aid  of  his  argument 
for  freedom,  "  to  whom  toil  is  torture.  Labor  was  his  first  lesson, 
and  he  has  been  repeating  it  all  his  life."  The  pleas  for  emancipa 
tion  are  grounded  in  part  upon  capabilities  which  slavery  has  pro 
duced. 

This  superiority  claimed  for  the  Africo-American,  how  does  it 
show  itself,  now  that  he  is  carried  back  to  the  land  of  his  fathers  ! 
America  in  Africa  is  superior  to  the  proper  Africa  itself,  and  is  giv 
ing  proof  of  it  before  Europe  and  America,  in  a  community  capable 
of  self-government,  of  regular  industry,  of  the  arts  of  civilization, 
of  maintaining  institutions  of  education  and  religion,  of  laying  foun 
dations  and  building  thereon,  of  principles  and  progress.  Says  the 
Rev.  J.  Payne,  Episcopal  missionary  at  Cape  Palmas,  "  The  Ainer- 
ico- African  colonists,  with  all  the  disadvantages  to  which  their  social 
condition  in  the  United  States  subjected  them,  are,  to  say  the  least, 
a  century  in  advance  of  their  heathen  neighbors.  Colonists  fill  al 
ready  every  civil  office  in  Liberia,  the  higher  ones  most  ably ;  why 
should  they  not,  also,  in  time,  fill  all  in  the  church  ?  "  *  Says  Rev. 
Mr.  Miller,  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  explaining 
the  comparative  advantage  of  Liberia  over  Sierra  Leone  with  a 
much  smaller  expenditure,  "  Because  Liberia  is  inhabited  by  a 
class  of  intelligent  Christian  negroes,  while  Sierra  Leone  is  inhabi 
ted  by  recaptured  Africans,  who  are  little  removed  from  the  state 
of  barbarism  in  which  they  were  found  by  British  cruisers." 

But  without  authorities  :  —  Let  any  one  ask  himself  whether  it  had 
been  possible  to  have  formed  a  Liberia  from  aboriginal  Africans  ? 
whether  there  could  have  been  found  among  them  the  same  power 
to  form,  and  preserve,  and  make  grow  a  prosperous  State,  as  is 
found  among  the  colonists  from  America,  who,  if  "  kept  down  "  by 
slavery,  have  still  most  marvellously  risen,  giving  proof  that  the 
principles  by  which  they  have  been  hindered,  alone,  are  to  be  cast 

*  African  Repository,  May,  1849,  p.  134. 


31 

aside,  while  those  by  which  they  have  thus  risen  are  to  be  most 
anxiously  preserved.  In  a  word,  let  the  injurious  and  destructive 
be  removed,  but  hold  fast  and  cherish  the  improving  and  conserva 
tive  ;  that  instead  of  losing  what  they  have  gained,  they  may  only 
add  to  their  gains  whatever  they  have  lost. 

Indeed,  if  in  the  inscrutable  mystery  of  Providence  there  must 
needs  be  an  Africo- American  population  —  if  the  two  races  must 
needs  meet  in  the  new  world;  the  civilized,  enterprising,  perse 
vering,  skilful  and  rich  European,  and  the  barbarous  and  destitute 
African  as  he  was,  and  as  the  present  aboriginal  African  is,  must 
we  not  say :  It  was  wisely  ordered,  that  social  and  political  suprem 
acy  was  settled  with  the  race  actually  most  capable  of  its  functions. 
If  the  African  race  is  to  belt  the  South,  it  is  well  that  the  suprem 
acy  remains,  if  only  it  be  maintained  in  Christian  wisdom  and 
kindness,  with  patriarchal  and  philanthropic  care ;  while  yet,  as  in 
Liberia,  there  may  be  laid  open  for  them  chosen  fields  for  the 
experiment  of  the  highest  social  and  political  freedom. 

But  still  another  comparison  forces  itself  upon  us :  I  mean  that 
of  the  Aboriginal  American  with  the  Africo- American.  There  are 
conservative  and  beneficial  influences  in  slavery,  under  which  the 
African  barbarian  has  multiplied,  and  become  in  degree  civilized 
and  capable  of  the  arts  of  life.  The  North  American  Indian,  left 
in  his  native  freedom,  has  wasted  and  perished  from  the  land  of  his 
fathers. 

Would  we  then  have  enslaved  the  Indians  in  order  to  preserve 
and  exalt  them?  By  no  means.  We  justify  neither  Las  Casas, 
who  proposed  negro  slavery  in  order  to  keep  the  Indians  free,  (for 
he  did  not  justify  himself,)  nor  the  colonists  whose  wrong-doing 
prompted  the  mistaken  kindness  of  the  father.  Neither  do  we  see 
clearly  how  a  beneficial  conservatism  and  restraint  could  have  been 
undertaken  in  behalf  of  American  savages.  And  yet  from  the  double 
experiment  of  slavery  and  freedom,  and  their  contrasted  issues,  we 
may  learn  to  look,  where  we  have  the  power  and  opportunity,  for  some 
thing  better  than  unconditional  emancipation,  than  the  abolition  of  the 
tried  and  proved  elements  of  African  well-being.  After  having  des 
troyed  (almost)  the  one  race  of  barbarians  because  they  were  too  free,  • 
we  will  beware  of  removing  the  bonds  by  which  we  have  actually 
preserved,  extended,  and  in  very  deed  improved  and  exalted  the 
other." 


32 

I  know  how  easily  it  may  be  said,  "  The  Indians  are  doomed  to 
disappear  before  civilized  men :  "  how  easily  Fate  may  be  assumed 
as  the  explanation  of  the  melancholy  fact.  With  like  wisdom  it  was 
said  once,  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum,  until  the  discovery  that  Nature's 
abhorrence  was  limited  to  thirty-two  feet ;  above  which,  Nature  liked 
a  vacuum.  Nature,  fate,  or  what  not,  likes  a  vacuum  of  savages  in 
connection  with  the  civilized,  if  they  be  red  and  straight-haired,  but 
abhors  it  if  they  be  black  and  woolly-headed  !  Strange  freaks  of 
Nature !  and  strange  philosophy !  How  much  better  to  say,  Bar 
barians,  if  they  can  be  "  held  to  labor,"  trained  and  ruled  to  dili 
gence,  order,  regularity,  under  the  example  of  a  civilized  and  Chris 
tian  community,  may  be  preserved  and  multiplied,  and  trained;  may 
grow  progressively  in  well-being ;  while  freedom,  idleness,  and  vice, 
will  prove  their  ruin.  Out  of  the  fiction  of  the  abhorrence  of  a 
vacuum,  we  get  nothing  but  disappointment  as  we  dig ;  out  of  the 
experimental  induction  of  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  how  are 
we  enriched  with  science  and  art !  From  the  fiction  of  a  doom  upon 
the  Aboriginal  American,  comes  nothing  but  wholesale  destruction 
of  savage  tribes ;  from  the  conclusions  of  experience,  what  results 
may  we  gain  of  African  well-being,  belting  our  own  land,  and  trans 
planted  that  it  may  overspread  Africa  itself.  An  ameliorated  sla 
very —  a  well-regulated  freedom,  call  it  by  whichever  name  you 
will,  with  scope  to  aspire  after  the  highest  franchises,  is  the  true  con 
clusion  from  American  experiments  with  barbarism. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

EUROPEAN    EXPERIMENTS    WITH    SERFDOM. 

I  DO  not  forget  the  rebuke  to  which  I  expose  myself;  the  popu 
lar  ban  of  the  Nineteenth  century  upon  the  claim  of  bonds  to  make 
free  —  of  an  ameliorated  slavery  instead  of  unconditional  abolition  ; 
as  if  there  were  some  magic  in  the  number  of  the  age.  The  Nine 
teenth  century  indeed !  And  what  is  there  in  that  charmed  number 
which  can  deliver  it  from  the  lessons  of  all  preceding  centuries  — 
from  learning  its  wisdom  from  all  time  ?  which  forbids  it  to  read 
the  ripened  history  of  ages,  and  to  find  therein  the  lessons  of  present 
wisdom  ;  made  plain  as  proverbs  to  the  intuition  of  the  age,  though 
it  were  in  such  words  as  ours :  Bonds  make  free :  Be  not  too  free. 
The  Nineteenth  century  is  not  to  be  controlled  in  the  testimony  it 
bears,  in  the  direction  it  gives.  Instead  of  requiring  unconditional 
emancipation,  it  may  be  found,  when  its  voice  is  fully  and  rightly 
heard,  to  require  bonds  retained  as  wrell  as  loosed.  The  Christian 
philanthropist  must  trace  modern  evils  to  their  sources ;  must  re 
ceive  modern  wisdom  in  its  fulness,  from  the  contributions  of  all 
times.  When  the  river  has  refused  and  cast  off  the  streams  from 
every  spring-head  and  lake,  it  is  but  a  cup  full  or  a  drop.  What 
ever  heedless  philanthropy  there  be,  boasting  itself  of  new  wisdom, 
is  itself  "  behind  the  times."  They  only  who  welcome  the  lessons 
of  experience  have  the  true  wisdom  of  the  age. 

An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure.  The  abolition 
of  serfdom,  brought  about  by  the  influence  of  Christianity,  wanted 
nevertheless  important  elements  of  Christian  wisdom.  "  The  mis 
ery  of  the  masses,"  and  the  concurrent  misery  of  property  and  capital; 
nay,  the  very  chaos  of  society ;  the  mutual  suffering  of  all  classes, 
and  the  dread  of  coming  evils,  making  men's  minds  to  fail  for  fear,  do 
but  confirm  the  assertion :  Bonds  make  free.  Too  free  a  freedom 
was  bestowed  upon  lords  and  serfs  together ;  too  many  bonds  were 


loosed  for  the  well-being  of  either,  for  the  well-being  of  the  whole. 
Serfs  and  lords  would  have  been  mutually  more  free  if  they  had 
been  mutually  more  hound.  Let  not  the  paradox  be  hastily  dis 
carded. 

Before  loosing  all  bonds,  whether  of  master  or  slave,  the  Nine 
teenth  century  should  ask  of  the  centuries  which  have  gone  before, 
whether,  in  solving  its  great  problem,  the  preventive  ounce  may  not 
prevail  against  the  pound  which  modern  Europe  shows  hindering 
or  baffling  cure.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  serfdom  of  the 
middle  ages  did  in  degree  provide  food,  and  raiment,  and  shelter, 
and  safety  to  the  mass  in  exchange  for  labor,  the  degree  varying 
according  to  the  interests  and  character  of  the  lord ;  that  serfdom 
gave  some  blessings  which  mere  freedom  would  take  away ;  that  it 
required  and  even  secured  some  duties  from  the  lords  which  an 
inconsiderate  release  might  leave  in  neglect.  If  those  mutual  obli 
gations  which  bind  together  the  high  and  the  low,  be  disregarded, 
the  presumptuous  franchise  will  destroy  itself.  The  iniquity  and 
the  folly  will  be  visited  on  successive  generations.  There  will  be 
"  miserable  masses,"  baffling  relief,  because  too  little  "  held  to  labor," 
and  too  little  sustained  by  the  laborer's  hire ;  and  miserable  prop 
erty,  also,  a  miserable  hereditary  or  moneyed  aristocracy,  because 
property  and  rank  did  not  cherish  labor,  did  not  benefit  and  com 
fort  the  laborer.  In  a  word,  society  will  be  less  free  for  the  want 
of  mutual  bonds.  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of 
cure.  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  be  sure  that  you  do  not 
enslave  him  to  the  "  misery  of  the  masses  "  of  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury  —  to  want  and  woe.  In  giving  freedom  to  the  master,  be  sure 
that  you  do  not  enslave  him  to  possessions  which  curse  the  possessor. 
Be  sure,  in  your  zeal,  that  you  do  not  take  away  from  the  slave  the 
points  of  well-being  which  bis  very  slavery  secures ;  nor  from  the 
master  the  salutary  obligations  of  his  lot.  Do  not  release  the  slave 
without  providing  for  his  future  support  by  his  labor  ;  nor  the  mas 
ter,  without  requiring  him  to  yield  that  support  for  labor. 

The  great  social  law  of  mutual  interdependence  cannot  change  — 
cannot  be  broken  with  impunity  by  the  master  more  than  by  the 
slave  ;  by  property  and  capital  more  than  by  labor.  The  law  and 
the  penalty  >are  divinely  declared  in  the  imprecation  of  the  Prince 
of  Uz :*  "If  my  land  cry  against  me,  or  the  furrows  thereof  com- 

*  Job  xxxi.  38. 


plain ;  if  I  have  eaten  the  fruit  thereof  without  money,  or  have 
caused  the  owners  thereof  to  lose  their  life ;  let  thistles  grow  instead 
of  wheat,  and  cockle  instead  of  barley  ; "  —  in  the  prophet's  warn 
ing  :  *  "  Hear  ye  this,  ye  which  oppress  the  poor,  which  crush  the 
needy ;  the  Lord  God  hath  sworn  by  his  holiness  that,  lo  !  the  days 
shall  come  upon  you,  that  he  will  take  you  away  with  hooks,  and 
your  posterity  with  fish-hooks  ; "  —  in  the  apostle's  denunciation  :  f 
"  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl,  for  your  miseries  that 
shall  come  upon  you.  Your  riches  are  corrupted,  and  your  gar 
ments  are  moth-eaten.  Your  gold  and  your  silver  is  cankered,  and 
the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your 
flesh  as  it  were  fire.  Behold  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have 
reaped  down  your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth, 
and  the  cries  of  them  which  h;  •  reaped  are  entered  into  the  ears 
of  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth."  The  presumptuous  franchise  de 
stroys  itself.  Surely  the  abolition  of  serfdom  wanted  some  elements 
of  Christian  wisdom  when  it  made  property  too  free  of  obligation 
to  maintain  labor,  and  labor  too  free  of  obligation  to  sustain  prop 
erty  ;  and  "  miserable  masses,"  and  property  encumbered  with  woes 
and  fears,  have  been  the  consequence. 

Whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  the  illustrations  required, 
there  are  some  obvious  points  in  the  condition  of  Europe  as  con 
nected  with  the  abolition  of  serfdom,  to  which  we  shall  do  well  if 
we  take  heed  in  attempting  a  remedy  for  American  slavery.  In 
avoiding  the  points  in  which  Christian  Europe  has  failed,  we  may 
find  the  true  amelioration,  the  rightly-regulated  freedom,  the  very 
method  of  well-being,  the  preventive  ounce,  against  miseries  which 
cannot  be  weighed.  J 

*  Amos  iv.  2. 

f  James  v.  1. 

£  The  refusal  to  entertain  the  question  of  well-being,  and  the  insisting  on 
the  absolute  and  immediate  abolition  of  slavery,  is  the  more  remarkable  in 
view  of  the  strange  projects  for  relief  which  the  disastrous  issue  of  the  Euro 
pean  experiment  has  called  forth ;  in  view  of  the  new  slavery  proposed  in 
remedy  of  the  "  misery  of  the  masses."  Strange  to  see  !  At  the  very  mo 
ment  when  we  are  so  urgent  for  unconditional  emancipation  in  America,  the 
miseries  of  the  free  in  Europe  are  looking  for  relief  to  new  forms  of  servi 
tude.  The  great  problem  of  European  revolutionists  is,  How  to  provide  for 
tmenslaved  masses  by  enslaving  them  again  !  —  what  new  chains  to  impose  in 
order  to  secure  the  well-being  of  the  people  !  *  *  *  Strange  to  see  ! 


36 

Looking,  then,  to  the  European  experiment,  what  learn  we  for 
our  guidance  ? 

And  first,  from  France?  from  her  condition  before  the  revolution 
of  1789,  producing  that  revolution,  with  its  horror  and  dismay  ?  the 
miseries  of  the  low,  and  the  still  greater  miseries  of  men  of  high 
estate  ?  from  the  imperfect  remedy  under  the  consulate  and  empire? 
under  the  restored  dynasty  of  1815  ?  under  the  revolution  of  1830  ? 
under  the  volcano  and  burning  lava  of  1848,  with  all  its  issues  and 
uncertainties  ?  Whatever  may  be  due  to  other  causes,  who  can  fail 
to  trace  the  wants  and  woes  of  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  the  lord  and  the  serf,  as  they  were  sixty  years  ago,  and  in 
all  their  varied  forms,  up  to  the  present  hour,  to  that  too  free  a  free 
dom  which  for  some  centuries  took  place  of  the  ancient  serfdom,  of 
the  mutual  bonds,  which,  with  many  evils,  had  secured  some  bless 
ings  unto  all  ? 

Whatever  difficulties  may  belong  to  a  subject  so  variously  related, 
we  may  confidently  refer  the  destitution  and  misery  of  the  lower 
orders  in  France  before  the  revolution,  and  of  course  the  subsequent 
miseries  of  the  higher,  in  part,  to  the  too  great  freedom  of  the  lords 
to  live  where  they  pleased,  and  how  they  pleased,  without  regard 
ing  in  their  place  and  expenditure  the  advantage  of  the  laborers  on 
the  soil ;  expending  in  the  luxury  and  dissipation  of  the  capital  the 
fruits  of  labor,  instead  of  with  the  laborer,  in  just  payment,  and 
generous  oversight  and  care ;  and  to  the  uncertain  and  oppressive 

In  countries  more  favorably  situated  for  emancipation  than  our  own  ;  where 
there  was  neither  incongeniality  of  race,  nor  floods  of  immigrating  labor ; 
neither  the  difficulty  found  by  the  negro  in  connection  with  the  Saxon  from 
the  first,  nor  the  new  flood  of  Saxon  and  Celt  upon  the  fields  of  toil,  per 
sonal  freedom  has  ended  in  such  "  misery  of  the  masses,"  in  such  horrible 
and  general  destitution  as  makes  men  ask  for  bonds  in  order  to  an  available 
freedom ;  and  in  such  misery  of  an  hereditary  and  moneyed  aristocracy  also ; 
in  such  difficulties,  and  overthrows,  and  anxieties,  and  dismay,  as  have  made 
the  whole  world  stand  aghast.  How  significant  the  sanction  to  the  demand ! 
—  Be  not  too  free  ;  Bonds  make  free,  —  found  in  the  new  and  mistaken 
slavery,  in  place  of  the  too  free  personal  freedom  which  preceded.  Names 
do  not  alter  things.  "Words  of  freedom  cannot  make  the  modern  devices 
other  than  a  new  slavery  in  remedy  of  the  ills  brought  in  by  freedom  too 
absolutely  abolished  —  of  the  evils  of  too  free  a  freedom.  Under  the  plausi 
ble  names  of  fraternity,  equality,  socialism,  what  is  called  for  but  regulation, 
restriction,  direction,  bonds,  in  regard  to  labor,  time,  place,  capital,  property, 
hitherto  too  free  ? 


37 

taxation,  and  restrained  and  discouraged  industry  of  this  neglected 
peasantry.  No  wonder  that  misery  ripened  upon  the  poor  and  the 
rich  together,  when  the  sweat  of  the  brow  could  no  longer  earn 
bread,  and  the  cries  of  "  hire  kept  back  by  fraud"  had  "entered  into 
the  ears  of  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth."  In  1789,  the  rural  laborer 
of  France  was  declared  by  Arthur  Young  to  be  seventy-six  per 
cent,  poorer  than  that  of  England ;  the  French  peasant  not  one 
fourth  as  well  provided  as  the  English  peasant ;  "  less  at  his  ease, 
worse  fed,  worse  lodged,  worse  clothed  —  reminding  one  of  the 
miseries  of  Ireland."  *  How  soon  followed  the  reverses  due  to  neg 
lectful  and  unjust  property  and  capital,  until  they  were  "  fished  with 
hooks,"  and  posterity,  and  again  posterity,  "with  fish-hooks,"  for 
the  violation  of  the  great  social  law  of  mutual  interdependence 
among  men ! 

The  like  connection  is  to  be  traced  in  the  miseries  of  Ireland, 
comparable  in  1789  with  the  miseries  of  France,  and  seventy-six 
per  cent,  below  the  miseries  of  England ;  for  why,  then,  for  why 
continuing  and  growing  until  now  ?  For  why  ?  if  not  because  prop 
erty  and  capital  have  not  performed  their  functions  for  labor,  and 
because  labor  has  not  performed  its  duty  to  property  and  capital  ? 
or,  fixing  upon  two  obvious  points ;  in  part,  because  Ireland  was  not 
blessed  with  either  advantage  of  the  "  poor  laws "  of  Elizabeth, 
viz.,  provision  for  the  absolutely  needy  and  incapable,  and  the  de 
mand  of  labor  from  those  able  to  work ;  and  in  part  because  non- 
residence  has  defrauded  labor  of  both  wages  and  care.  Thus  those 
whom  property  and  capital  have  forsaken,  and  who  have  also  been 
idle  and  negligent  themselves,  have  perished  by  thousands,  almost 
without  hope  of  relief,  and  the  abused  property  and  capital  are 
cankered  in  the  hands  of  their  possessors,  and  "  eat  their  flesh  as  it 
were  fire."  An  impoverished  tenantry  must  make  an  impover 
ished  aristocracy.  The  "  evictions "  of  miserable  thousands,  and 
the  horrors  of  enraged  hunger ;  valueless  estates,  or  estates  to 
which  assassination  and  murder  are  entailed,  may  be  referred,  in 
part,  to  too  many  bonds  loosed  —  too  few  bonds  retained. 

That  the  principles  of  Irish  misery  may  be  the  more  manifest,  it 
stands  in  striking  contrast  with  Irish  well-being,  where  for  many 
generations  property  and  capital  have  been  faithful  to  their  func- 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  in.  Chap.  II. 


tions ;  where  pay  has  provided  and  rewarded  labor,  and  where  labor, 
also,  has  been  rendered  for  pay.  Happily  the  experiment  of  James  I. 
has  been  called  up  to  give  wisdom  to  the  nineteenth  century  for  the 
recovery  of  an  afflicted  and  desolate  people  on  the  better  principle 
of  keeping  on  the  soil,  and  restoring  thereon,  a  ruined  peasantry, 
instead  of  substituting  another  people  in  their  place. 

"  It  is  now  nearly  two  hundred  and  forty  years,"  says  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  "  since  a  Sovereign  of  this  country,  desirous  of  making  a  set 
tlement  in  Ireland,  sought  the  assistance  of  the  city  of  London. 
He  invited  their  cooperation  in  restoring  what  were  then  called  the 
ruinated  cities  of  Londonderry  and  Coleraine.  If  there  be  any 
party  in  this  country  which  has  reason  to  look  back  with  pride  on 
Ireland,  and  its  connection  with  Ireland,  it  is  the  city  of  London. 
It  is  the  city  of  London  which  has  done  more  than  parliament  or 
proprietors  to  promote  the  interests  of  that  country ;  which  has  for 
gotten  the  consideration  of  temporary  gain,  which  has  forgone  pres 
ent  interest,  which  has  sought  a  compensation  for  these  sacrifices, 
by  promoting  the  permanent  welfare  of  the  district  with  which  it 
was  connected.  I  hope,  after  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
years,  that  the  city  of  London  may  be  enabled  again  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  that  country.  It  will  act  now  upon  other  views, 
more  liberal  —  more  comprehensive  than  before.  It  will  not  seek, 
as  it  heretofore  did,  to  expel  the  natives  from  the  soil.  It  will  seek 
to  elevate  their  character,  to  encourage  their  industry,  to  find  for 
them  permanent  employment,  to  instil  the  principles  of  order,  of  re 
spect  for  the  laws,  of  submission  to  authority."  "  But  for  Ulster," 
says  the  London  Times,  commenting  on  Sir  Robert  Peel,  "  but  for 
Ulster,  we  should  scarcely  have  hope.  The  estates  of  the  city  of 
London  are  an  oasis  in  that  social  and  almost  physical  waste.  The 
cost  of  the  plantation  probably  did  not  exceed  the  contributions  of 
London  alone,  to  one  year's  expenses  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
But  the  work  still  endures,  flourishes  and  expands.  *  *  *  It  bids 
fair  to  last  out  the  world,  so  that  to  the  end  of  time,  a  cultivated 
country  and  a  prosperous  people  will  be  a  living  record  of  the 
plantation  of  Ulster  under  James  I." 

If  the  peasantry  of  England  might  be  deservedly  ranked  far 
above  that  of  France  in  1789,  or  of  Ireland  at  this  moment,  there, 
also,  without  question,  those  mutual  bonds  needful  to  make  freedom 
avail  to  the  personal  and  social  well-being  of  all  classes,  fail  in  de- 


gree ;  while,  nevertheless,  the  better  condition  of  the  lower  orders 
in  England,  and  of  England  on  the  whole,  is  due  in  part  to  mutual 
bonds  retained.  There  may  be  a  question,  indeed,  connected  with 
the  "  poor  laws  "  of  Elizabeth,  whether  a  too  certain  and  easy  claim 
upon  the  property  and  capital  of  the  country  may  not  in  some 
degree  have  promoted  the  pauperism  for  which  they  intended  only 
to  provide ;  but  there  can  be  no  question  that  those  laws,  along  with 
a  better  encouraged  industry,*  were  bonds  on  property  and  capital 
—  on  the  aristocracy,  on  the  masters  in  favor  of  the  released  serfs 
of  earlier  times ;  such  as  have  made  the  peasantry  of  England  for 
centuries,  in  better  condition  than  that  of  either  France  or  Ireland. 
This  advantage  is  due  partly  to  direct  relief ;  partly  to  an  indirect 
influence  stimulating  the  people  to  provide  for  themselves,  and 
partly,  perhaps,  to  the  tendency  of  this  tax  upon  property  to  pre 
vent  non  residence,  to  promote  residence,  and  thus  to  add  sympathy, 
and  counsel,  and  care,  and  voluntary  aid,  and  an  advantageous  ex 
penditure,  to  the  provision  furnished  directly  by  the  laws. 

If  this  asertion  be  just,  how  much  more  would  its  justice  appear, 
if,  with  the  bonds  on  property  and  rank,  there  had  been  enforced 
the  bonds  on  labor,  also,  for  which  those  same  "laws  of  Elizabeth" 
provided.  In  the  words  of  Blackstone,  their  object  was,  not  only 
"First,  to  raise  competent  sums  for  the  necessary  relief  of  the 
poor,  impotent,  old,  and  blind,  and  such  other,  being  poor  and 
not  able  to  work ; "  but  also,  "  Secondly,  to  provide  work  for  such 
as  are  able  and  cannot  otherwise  get  employment,"  or  in  other  words, 
"to  relieve  the  impotent  poor,  and  them  only,  and  to  find  employ 
ment  for  such  as  are  able  to  work."  "  But  this  latter  part  of  the 
duty,"  adds  Blackstone,  "  which  according  to  the  wise  regulations 
of  this  salutary  statute,  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  other,  is 
now  most  shamefully  neglected."  f  If  both  parts  had  been  duly 
observed,  how  truly  would  there  have  been  mutual  bonds  on  prop 
erty  and  labor,  that  both  might  have  been  thereby  more  free  :  —  a 
substitute  for  the  advantages  of  serfdom,  and  the  care  of  the  mon 
asteries,  by  which  all  the  members  of  society  would  have  been  ben 
efited  ;  worthy  the  commendations  of  the  great  commentator  on  the 
English  law:  —  "A  plan  was  formed  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza 
beth,  more  humane  and  beneficial  than  even  the  feeding  and  cloth- 

*  Alison's  Europe,  Chap.  II.  t  Commentaries,  B.  IY,  Chap.  VIL 


40 

ing  of  millions,  by  affording  them  the  means,  with  proper  industry, 
of  feeding  and  clothing  themselves : "  *  the  whole  on  the  great  prin 
ciple  of  these  papers,  of  mutual  bonds  in  order  to  mutual  freedom  ; 
thus  stated  by  Blackstone  in  connection  with  these  laws  of  Eliza 
beth  :  "  There  is  not  a  more  necessary,  or  more  certain  maxim  in 
the  frame  and  constitution  of  society,  than  that  every  individual 
must  contribute  his  share,  in  order  to  the  well-being  of  the  commu 
nity  ;  and  surely  they  must  be  very  deficient  in  sound  policy  who 
suffer  one  half  of  a  parish  to  continue  idle,  dissolute,  and  unem 
ployed,  and  at  length  are  amazed  to  find  that  the  industry  of  the 
other  half  is  not  able  to  maintain  the  whole." 

The  lesson  is  plain  ; — What  might  have  been  done  easily  with  the 
ounces,  has  become  impossible  since  they  have  grown  to  pounds  and 
to  tons.  Or,  varying  the  figure ;  what  might  have  been  done  with 
the  sapling,  is  impossible  with  the  full  grown  and  gigantic  trunk. 
What  Europe  could  have  prevented  by  due  bonds  on  property  and 
labor,  when  both  were  in  the  manageable  state  of  the  middle  ages 
—  what  she  might  have  done  by  an  ameliorated  serfdom,  must  be 
utterly  beyond  her  power  when  all  the  facilities  of  the  ancient  sys 
tem  have  passed  away,  and  the  work  to  be  done  has  increased  a 
thousand  fold.  The  full  grown  miseries  of  centuries  will  not  bje 
removed  by  forces  which  might  have  availed  in  their  infancy. 
The  ancient  oak  will  not  be  handled  as  if  it  were  a  sapling. 

And  now,  summing  up  the  examples  referred  to  in  this  chapter 
and  the  last :  —  the  improvement  of  the  African  race,  under  certain 
advantages,  amidst  the  disadvantages  of  slavery ;  the  deterioration 
and  wasting  away  of  the  American  aborigines,  under  certain  disad 
vantages,  amidst  the  advantages  of  freedom ;  and  the  "  misery  of 
the  masses,"  with  the  concurrent  misery  of  property  and  capital  in 
Europe,  for  the  lack  of  mutual  bonds,  illustrate  the  assertion  — 
Bonds  make  free ;  and  justify  the  all  important  claim,  that  well- 
being  shall  be  the  question  with  regard  to  the  slaves  and  masters 
of  the  South,  whether  by  bonds  loosed  or  bonds  retained.  The 
proprietor,  the  capitalist,  the  lord,  the  master,  may  "  do  what  he  will 
with  his  own,"  may  live  where  he  will,  and  how  he  will,  only  with 
due  regard  to  the  laborers  who  depend  upon  him ;  or  his  freed 
wealth  shall  be  worse  to  him  than  wholesome  poverty  itself.  The 

*  Commentaries,  B.  IV,  Chap.  XXXIII. 


41 

ancient  serf  or  the  modern  slave  may  be  made  free  of  whatever 
bonds,  and  yet  only  in  due  regard  to  property  and  capital,  to  pro 
prietor  and  capitalist,  the  natural  helpers  of  labor,  or  his  freedom 
will  be  less  desirable  than  an  ameliorated  slavery.  The  presump 
tuous  franchise  of  labor  without  pay,  or  pay  without  labor,  will  des 
troy  itself. 

If  this  view  be  just  —  if  bonds  were  needful  to  be  retained,  hun 
dreds  of  year,s  ago,  when  the  liberty  given  was  that  of  Europe,  how 
much  more  now,  when  the  emancipation  proposed  is  into  personal 
and  political  liberty,  as  it  exists,  full  grown,  on  American  soil. 

Granted,  that  the  freedom  of  the  North,  personal  and  political, 
inherited  from  our  English  ancestors  two  hundred  years  ago,  and 
full  grown  since,  on  the  soil  of  the  New  World,  is  fitted  to  its  place 
and  people,  and  that  it  can  even  assimilate  a  multitudinous  Euro 
pean  emigration,  so  perfectly,  that  from  age  to  age  we  shall  be  a 
homogeneous  Republic,  with  no  portion  of  the  assimilated  mass 
incapable  of  co-acting  with  the  whole :  — 

Does  it  follow  thence,  that  even  the  nations  of  Europe  in  their 
place,  and  with  their  people  —  above  all,  does  it  follow  that  a  race 
so  different  as  the  Negro,  can  be  thus  made  free  ? — that  such  a  free 
dom  could  be  established  and  maintained  ?  —  that  such  a  freedom 
would  not  become  their  worst  bondage  ?  Does  it  follow  that  we 
can  decree  our  freedom  to  them,  as  they  have  been,  and  are  ?  that 
we  can  emancipate  them  into  what  we  enjoy  ?  that  we  can  make  for 
them  in  a  day  what  God  has  made  for  us  in  centuries  ?  that  it  can 
be  theirs,  until,  as  with  us,  it  unfold  itself  as  the  slow  growth  of 
ages  ?  that  with  us  they  can  retain  it,  or  if  we  were  to  vanish  from 
the  soil,  could  hold  it  for  themselves  ?  Miserable  delusion !  to  think 
that  you  can  call  forth  the  full  grown  and  solid  oak,  except  by  the 
process  by  which  the  acorn  unfolds  and  strengthens  itself,  year  after 
year,  and  age  after  age :  —  to  take  the  last  result  of  centuries  of  dis 
cipline,  and  expect  to  build  it  up  in  Europe  by  a  three  days'  emeute, 
or  among  three  millions  of  Africo-Americans,  by  some  decree  of 
enfranchisement,  some  day  of  universal  emancipation.  Better  far 
if  that  boon  can  be  found,  an  ameliorated  slavery,  which  shall  prove 
itself  a  well  regulated  freedom ;  better,  far,  to  deal  with  the  ounces, 
than  to  hazard  the  pounds  and  the  tons,  which  no  strength  can  lift ; 
to  handle  the  sapling,  than  to  wait  for  the  full  grown  and  enormous 
trunk  of  the  twenty-second  century. 


42 

The  writer  does  not  presume  that  he  has  accomplished  the  grand 
desideratum.  His  utmost  hope  is,  that  he  has  made  an  imperfect 
attempt  in  the  right  line,  and  may  render  some  small  aid  in  recall 
ing  his  misguided  countrymen  from  the  wrong  lines  designated 
by  the  terms  "  pro-slavery "  and  "  anti-slavery,"  from  mutual 
reproaches  about  opposite  impracticables,  to  union  in  seeking  a 
practical  good.  He  invokes  the  wisdom  of  the  country,  philan 
thropic,  patriarchal,  to  the  utmost  point,  to  perfect  a  method  of  well- 
being  for  the  slaves,  in  and  with  the  well-being  of  the  European 
race  —  a  method  of  well-being  for  our  whole  country,  suffering  and 
blessed  together,  in  the  suffering  and  blessing  of  each  several  mem 
ber  of  the  united  body. 

With  this  hope,  how  might  the  philanthropist  and  patriarch  weep 
in  bitter  repentance  over  the  long  refused  opportunity  —  the  long 
delayed  wisdom !  What  if  this  had  been  the  attempt  of  the  last 
twenty  years,  not  to  abolish  slavery  ;  not  to  set  the  slave  free  of  his 
master,  or  the  master  of  his  slave,  but  whether  by  binding  or  loos 
ing,  to  promote  the  well-being  of  both  and  of  the  whole  —  the  Nine 
teenth  century  drawing  this  wisdom  from  all  previous  time.  What 
if  the  Christian  philanthropists  of  the  North,  and  the  Christian 
patriarchs  of  the  South  had  united  in  this  good  attempt ;  instead 
of  clamor  and  anti-clamor,  and  jar  and  discord,  making  sweet 
harmony  through  all  the  land.  How  then  may  we  suppose  the 
evils  of  slavery  already  removed,  and  the  blessings  with  slavery 
retained ;  freedom  established  which  is  freedom  indeed,  suited  to  the 
actual  condition  of  both  races,  of  which  we  have  said,  Bonds  make 
free ;  the  thing  without  the  name,  against  and  above  all  counter 
names ;  liberty,  equality,  fraternity,  in  all  the  real  good  which  those 
abused  words  can  suggest ;  without  the  anarchy,  and  overthrow,  and 
bloodshed,  and  anxieties,  and  dreads,  in  the  train  of  a  false  and  flat 
tering  philanthropy  ;  a  pattern  to  the  European  world,  in  recovering 
from  the  miseries  of  too  free  a  freedom,  and  giving  to  the  Nine 
teenth  century  a  glory  which  should  not  pass  away.  *  *  * 

If  we  find  a  method  for  the  well-being  of  slaves  and  slaveholders, 
it  may  suggest  a  method  for  the  well-being  of  "  miserable  masses," 
so  true  to  the  law  of  mutual  interdependence,  so  true  to  the  unal 
terable  relations  of  property  and  labor,  as  shall  repair  the  damage 
of  too  free  a  freedom,  and  bless  all  orders  of  society  together, 
"  Bonds  that  make  free  "  may  come  to  be  encouraged  by  American 
example. 


43 


CHAPTER  VII. 

^?   .          w. 

THE    RESPONSIBILITY. 

THE  appeal  is,  necessarily,  to  a  sense  of  responsibility.  If  this  is 
not  to  be  found,  if  it  cannot  be  roused,  then  discussion,  illustration, 
proposal,  urgency,  whether  in  regard  to  emancipation  or  well-being, 
are  in  vain.  Of  course  the  appeal  for  well-being  is  not  to  be  put 
down,  and  that  for  emancipation  set  up,  on  the  assumption  that 
there  is  no  sense  of  responsibility,  or  that  no  sense  of  responsi 
bility  can  be  roused ;  —  that  slaveholders,  that  the  "  South,"  are 
so  absolutely  selfish  and  unjust,  so  void  of  conscience,  that  discus 
sion,  illustration,  proposal,  urgency  for  the  well-being  of  the  slaves, 
is  utterly  useless.  For  ourselves,  we  believe  not  only  that  there  is 
an  actual  and  fearful  responsibility,  in  regard  to  the  three  millions 
of  slaves,  and  the  twenty  millions  with  whom  they  are  connected, 
and  to  the  geometric  ratio  of  the  future,  but  a  sense  of  it  at  the 
South,  and  among  slaveholders  to  be  appealed  to,  and  to  be  more 
and  more  aroused,  until  the  desire  of  philanthropist  and  patriarch 
shall  be  fulfilled  in  the  well-being  of  the  people,  whether  bond  or 
free.  However  this  may  be,  whatever  and  wherever  the  sense  of 
it,  there  is  a  responsibility  of  which  we  are  now  to  speak. 

And  this  responsibility  is  to  God,  for  man.  Let  it  be  set  forth  as 
it  is,  with  no  diminution  because  it  relates  to  Africans  and  slaves, 
and  to  those  who  stand  to  them  in  the  relation  of  masters. 
The  responsibility  is  to  God,  and  to  his  perfect  law :  to  the  great 
law  of  truth,  and  justice,  and  kindness,  which  is  to  regulate  the 
doing  of  man  to  man,  with  all  the  sanctions  which  belong  to  the 
breach  and  the  observance,  here  and  hereafter.  The  remedy  of  a 
great  social  evil,  the  provision  for  a  great  social  good,  is  not  to  be 
accomplished  save  in  reference  to  the  highest  sanctions  of  human 
conduct,  save  in  reference  to  the  supreme  authority  over  man. 
"  The  wisdom  of  Numa  "  was  not  in  vain,  has  not  been  in  vain,  in 


44 

recovering  and  establishing  states  —  has  been  every  where  acknowl 
edged,  pagan  though  it  was,  as  better  than  atheistical  philosophy, 
than  philosophic  indifference.  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  Chris 
tian  nations  can  find  an  Atheistical  wisdom ;  can  obtain  a  durable 
prosperity,  without  a  conscientious  righteousness.  We  have  no 
remedy  to  propose,  no  appeal  to  make,  which  shall  supersede  a 
regard  to  the  Supreme  Ruler,  and  the  supreme  law. 

But  there  are  limits  to  this  responsibility.  The  astronomer  is 
mad  who  burdens  his  conscience  with  the  charge  of  winds,  and 
clouds,  and  rains,  and  sunshine,  and  their  influence  upon  the  harvests 
by  which  man  and  beast  must  live.  The  philanthropist  is  mad  who 
burdens  his  conscience  with  accomplishing  his  own  estimate  and  plan 
for  the  well-being  of  his  race ;  who  undertakes  to  overrule  the  great 
Overruler  himself.  The  responsibility  —  the  sense  of  responsibility 
claimed  and  appealed  to,  in  regard  to  the  well-being  of  the  African 
race  in  and  with  the  well-being  of  the  whole  community  —  is  to  do 
what  can  be  done ;  is  for  right  and  wise  attempts,  and  for  all  that  suc 
cess  which  a  good  Providence  may  give.  There  is  no  responsibilty 
for  impossibilities.  There  is  no  responsibility  to  remove  all  evils, 
and  secure  all  benefits,  to  equalize  all  conditions ;  for  that  were  a 
responsibility  which  exists  not  in  regard  to  any  nation  on  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  would  destroy  the  school  of  discipline  which  God  has 
appointed  —  would  overrule  the  great  Overruler.  There  are  limits 
to  human  responsibility,  and  there  is  no  responsibility  beyond  them. 
There  is  no  responsibility  to  annul  the  laws  of  inequality  in  the 
varying  conditions  of  men  —  to  contravene  the  decree,  "  The  poor 
ye  shall  always  have  with  you,"  to  be  provided  for  by  wages  or  by 
charity.  Not  emancipation  from  all  bonds,  not  an  Agrarian  law, 
not  a  theoretic,  not  an  absolute  equality,  are  required  of  human 
responsibility.  The  Christian  equalization  is  on  the  very  principle 
of  inequality  ;  suited  to  the  varying  scene  of  human  wealth  and 
want,  which  human  discipline  requires ;  is  made  by  justice  and 
kindness  freely  moving  amidst  human  inequalities,  amidst  suffering 
and  relieving  men ;  by  means  of  which,  "  he  that  gathereth  much 
hath  nothing  over,  and  he  that  gathereth  little  hath  no  lack ; "  in 
which  the  full  prepare  a  harvest  for  their  own  necessities  by  sowing 
to  those  who  are  in  want.  There  is,  there  can  be,  no  responsibility 
to  institute  to-day,  out  of  African  elements,  a  British  or  American 
condition  —  to  make  the  two  divisions  of  population  of  South  Caro- 


45 

lina  into  the  homogeneous  mass  of  Massachusetts.  The  responsibil 
ity  is  to  do  what  can  be  done  for  the  well-being  of  the  people  as 
they  are,  whether  by  bonds  loosed  or  bonds  retained,  as  truth,  jus 
tice,  kindness  may  require. 

The  responsibility,  thus  defined  and  distinguished,  belongs,  of 
course,  first  and  chiefly,  to  the  slaveholders,  individually  and  socially. 
Each  master  is  personally  responsible  to  do  all  he  can,  under  and 
with  existing  laws,  both  in  the  current  care  of  those  with  whom  he 
finds  himself  charged,  and  in  making  the  best  possible  arrangements 
for  their  future  welfare,  whether  during  or  after  his  own  life. 
Whatever  hindrance  may  be  found  in  existing  laws,  he  is  bound 
to  provide  against  to  his  utmost  powers.  Whatever  the  State  may 
do  or  leave  undone,  there  is  a  personal  responsibility  for  the  inter 
val  of  its  delay,  according  to  whatever  powers  and  facilities 
remain. 

But  especially  society  is  responsible  for  a  great  social  evil ;  the 
State,  that  mysterious  personality,  so  difficult  to  define,  but  which 
the  supreme  Ruler  holds  to  account ;  —  not  expressed  by  the  mon 
arch's  presumption,  "  I  am  the  State ; "  or  by  the  republic's  pride, 
"  We  govern  ourselves ; "  —  the  State,  which  the  King  of  kings 
knows  where  to  find  and  how  to  reward :  the  boastful  head  and  the 
boastful  members  having  their  mysterious  share  in  the  social  re 
sponsibility,  whether  by  political  action  or  inaction,  by  interest  or  in 
difference,  by  approval  or  disapproval.  The  evil  is  social  and  politi 
cal,  and  the  remedy  must  be  social  and  political  also.  The  sov 
ereign  State  must  provide  for  the  evils  of  the  State  ;  must  open  the 
way  for  the  responsible  action  of  all  its  members  for  the  common 
good.  What  is  every  body's  business  is  nobody's.  It  is  not  enough 
to  say  that  every  individual  is  responsible,  while  yet  nobody  is  left 
distinctly  and  solemnly  accountable.  The  State  itself  is  the  person 
ality  of  which  arrangements  wise  and  salutary  must  be  claimed,  in 
that  corporate  and  distinct  existence  by  which  it  is  a  State,  in  whose 
unity  all  the  members  are  mysteriously  and  inseparably  joined. 

The  State,  then,  in  its  corporate  capacity,  —  government  growing 
out  of  the  necessities  and  moral  sensibilities  of  men ;  the  child  of 
the  past,  the  nurse  of  the  present,  the  parent  of  the  future;  which 
God  has  ordained,  and  which  no  royal  presumption  or  democratic 
pride  can  wrest  from  His  hands ;  —  each  sovereign  State  is  responsi 
ble  to  do  all  that  its  existing  constitution  admits,  and  to  adopt  into 
its  constitution  whatever  needful  powers. 


46 

The  State  responsible,  thus,  for  the  use  and  extension  of  its  pow 
ers,  must  act  through  official  persons,  its  necessary  organs,  legisla 
tive,  executive,  judicial,  for  and  with  the  whole  body  of  which  they 
are  the  organs.  Official  persons,  the  organs  of  the  State,  are  them 
selves  responsible,  not  as  individuals  merely,  but  as  public  organs, 
for  all  the  opportunities  and  powers  which  belong  to  their  offices 
severally,  —  not  to  their  appointees  principally,  to  their  instructions 
or  complaints,  but  to  the  Ruler  of  rulers,  to  do  what  he  requires  of 
them  as  the  organs  of  a  Christian  State  : 

"  Among  the  rulers  of  the  earth 
A  greater  Ruler  takes  his  seat : 
The  God  of  heaven,  as  Judge,  surveys 
Those  gods  on  high,  and  all  their  ways." 

But  there  are  limits  to  the  responsibility  of  the  State,  as  there 
are  limits  to  its  sovereign  power.  It  is  bound  to  do  what  it  can 
and  no  more  ;  what  it  has  a  right  and  ability  to  do  and  no  more. 
Its  organs,  legislative,  executive,  judicial,  are  responsible  only  for 
what  is  right  and  possible  to  them  as  the  organs  of  the  State ;  to 
act  with  and  not  against  the  constitution  of  the  State  whose  organs 
they  are ;  to  act,  also,  according  and  not  contrary  to  the  materials 
on  which  they  have  to  act ;  with  and  not  without  just  consideration 
of  all  the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future  ;  in  view  of  all  the  helps  and  hindrances  which  belong 
to  the  nature  of  men,  ay,  and  to  the  very  kinds  and  classes  with 
whom  they  have  to  deal,  and  to  the  nature  of  the  State  whose  organs 
they  are  —  at  once  the  child  of  the  past,  the  nurse  of  the  present, 
and  the  parent  of  the  future,  —  regardful  of  the  stream  of  custom 
and  prescription  which  cannot  be  instantly  created  or  destroyed ; 
which  cannot  be  turned  in  its  present  fulness  into  new  channels, 
without  ruin  and  desolation  in  its  course. 

Fixing,  thus,  chiefly,  the  responsibility  upon  slaveholders  and  the 
slaveholding  States,  in  their  separate  sovereignties,  it  must  still  be 
claimed  that  there  is  a  responsibility  beside,  or  else  the  writer  has 
no  claim  to  a  hearing,  —  is  mistaken  in  his  deep  sense  of  duty.  No 
doubt,  within  proper  limitations,  there  is  a  responsibility  at  the 
North  as  well  as  at  the  South,  —  in  every  northern  State  and  in 
every  northern  man,  — just  as  we  are  responsible  for  the  relief  of 
misery  the  wide  world  over,  according  to  our  relations  and  our 


47 

powers,  to  do  what  in  us  lies  for  the  benefit  of  our  fellow-men  :  not 
to  govern  where  God  and  nature  have  given  no  authority,  but  in 
every  way  to  aid  and  comfort  in  agreement  with  the  laws  of  God 
and  nature.  There  is  no  evil  on  the  face  of  the  earth  which  may 
not  be  rightly  discussed,  and  for  which  just  relief  may  not  be  at 
tempted  by  any  man  on  the  face  of  the  earth  There  is  no  sover 
eign  State  so  sovereign,  no  monarchy  on  a  throne  so  high,,  no 
republic  in  its  amassed  supremacy  so  supreme,  that  it  may  not  be 
confronted,  ay,  and  roused,  and  reclaimed,  and  blessed  by  "  that 
same  poor  man."  The  humblest  American  may  speak  to  the  proud 
est  of  the  American  States.  Man  to  man  may  speak  for  man, 
under  no  other  restrictions  but  to  speak  the  words  of  truth,  and 
justice,  and  kindness,  as  a  Christian  philanthropist,  and  no  man 
or  people  has  the  right  to  gainsay.  Homo  sumj  humani  nihil  a 
me  alienum  puto. 


43 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

4 

IRRESPONSIBILITY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

RESPONSIBILITY  there  is,  no  doubt,  as  upon  every  citizen,  so  upon 
the  United  States,  to  do  what  in  us  lies  for  the  well-being  of  the 
whole  South,  but  "  not  to  govern,  where  God  or  nature  has  given 
no  authority ; "  not  to  do,  what  in  us  does  not  lie,  to  regulate  or 
abolish  slavery  in  the  States.  These  assertions  are  presumed  to 
agree  with  the  general  sentiment  of  the  country,  and  yet  there  are 
not  wanting  scruples  and  evasions,  pretensions  and  attempts,  which 
require  that  the  irresponsibility  of  the  United  States  should  be  care 
fully  stated  and  illustrated.  And  this  not  only  to  check  useless  in 
terference,  but  to  quicken  the  sense  of  the  actual  responsibility.  If 
the  responsibility  is  not  on  the  United  States,  it  is  tremendously 
upon  each  separate  State.  The  plea  against  action  in  the  General 
Government  does  not  lighten  the  charge  of  three  millions  of  men 
and  their  posterity,  which  Divine  Providence  has  laid  upon  the 
responsible  States  —  is  for  action  "  with  no  diminution  because  it 
relates  to  Africans  and  slaves,"  "  not  indeed  to  loose  all  bonds,  but 
whether  by  bonds  loosed  or  bonds  retained,  to  seek  their  well-being 
in  and  with  the  well-being  of  the  whole  people." 

Still  deferring  our  conception  of  the  detail,  our  view  of  a  Reme 
dial  code ;  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  the  necessity  of  some 
specific  and  appropriate  legislation  for  a  peculiar  race  settled  with 
us  beyond  removal,  some  great  and  comprehensive  measure  of  Po 
lice.  Such  a  legislation,  at  once  merciful  and  just,  regardful  of 
property  and  labor,  suited  to  man,  providing  for  the  well-being  of 
both  races,  worthy  of  the  Christian  philanthropist  and  the  Christian 
patriarch  alike,  how  would  it  prove  the  glory  of  the  South  and  the 
joy  of  the  North ;  the  oil  of  gladness  and  the  dew  of  refreshing 
upon  an  indissoluble  Union! 

In  the  hope  of  contributing  to  this  result  we  proceed  to  state  and 


49 

to  illustrate  the  irresponsibility  of  the  United  States.  We  dis 
claim,  then,  utterly,  all  right  in  the  JJnited  States  to  interfere  with 
the  separate  States  as  to  slavery.]  Whatever  the  duties  of  the 
States  may  be  in  their  separate  sovereignties,  these  are  not  the  du 
ties  of  the  United  States ;  not  more  than  they  are  the  duties  of  any 
other  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  not  more  than  of  Great 
Britain  or  France.  Of  course,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
has  no  duty  of  interference,  more  than  the  British  Parliament  or  the 
French  Legislative  Assembly  ;  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
as  citizens,  have  no  duty  of  interference  more  than  the  citizens  of 
Great  Britain  or  France.  We  have  not  even  the  "  right  of  peti 
tion  "  thereon  :  i.  e.  we  have  no  right  to  move  the  United  States  to 
do  what  they  have  no  right  to  do.  The  right  to  petition  cannot  ex 
tend  beyond  the  right  to  act.  To  petition  Congress  in  the  matter, 
would  be  as  inconsistent  and  absurd  as  to  forward  petitions  to  Lon 
don  or  Paris.  Be  the  evil  ever  so  great,  be  the  duty  of  the  sepa 
rate  States  ever  so  imperious,  whether  of  abolition  or  amelioration, 
neither  Washington,  London,  nor  Paris,  can  be  urged  to  interfere. 
Whatever  the  evil  or  the  wrong  of  slavery,  God  has  given  the  Uni 
ted  States  no  authority  in  the  matter.  The  great  Overruler  has  so 
overruled  as  to  limit  our  right  and  our  power,  as  to  prevent  our  re 
sponsibility. 

There  are  two  questions  concerning  the  responsibility  of  the 
United  States.  The  one  as  under  the  Constitution,  the  other  as  for 
the  Constitution  itself,  and  for  whatever  alterations.  It  is  not 
enough  to  say,  we  are  not  responsible  under  the  Constitution,  unless 
we  can  also  say,  we  are  not  responsible  for  the  Constitution.  All 
that  regards  the  former  question  will  be  sufficiently  considered  under 
the  latter. 

We  are  not  responsible  then,  for  giving  to  the  Slave-holding 
States  the  powers  they  have.  We  did  not  give  what  we  might 
have  kept.  We  are  not  continuing  what  we  have  the  right  and 
power  to  reclaim.  There  is  an  illusion  in  the  popular  phrase, 
"the  compromises  of  the  Constitution."  Neither  the  North 
nor  the  South  seem  to  understand  that  their  relations  to  each 
other  were  not  their  independent  choice ;  that  they  exist  not  at 
their  pleasure,  that  they  cannot  be  altered  at  their  will.  The 
Constitution  is  not  a  guilty  compromise  in  regard  to  slavery,  to  be 
repented  of  and  set  aside  by  the  North ;  is  not  to  be  held  fast  at 
5 


50 

the  South,  as  a  charter  by  mutual  consent,  but  is  to  be  retained  by 
both,  as  a  conformity  to  our  actual  condition ;  to  the  grounds  and 
necessities  of  our  political  state.  The  national  sovereignty  not 
only  finds  no  responsibility  in  those  delegated  powers  by  which  it  is 
constitutionally  sovereign ;  but  it  finds  none  in  those  circumstances, 
those  progressive  events  above  human  foresight  or  control,  produc 
ing  and  illustrating  its  powers  and  limitations,  and  by  which  the 
"  powers  that  be,"  the  united  and  separated  sovereignties,  "  are  or 
dained  of  God."  A  glance  at  the  divine  work  in  forming  the 
American  Union  in  the  harmony  and  distinction  of  National  and 
State  sovereignties,  cannot  fail  to  illustrate  the  subject. 

The  arrangement,  then,  of  limited  supremacy  in  the  central  gov 
ernment,  and  of  separate  state  sovereignties  in  all  but  delegated 
powers,  peculiar  to  the  United  States  of  America,  is  no  device  of 
man,  no  new  work  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1787,  but  the 
marvellous  and  mysterious  work  of  Providence,  then  happily  ac 
cepted.  "  The  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  His  overru 
ling  Providence  settles  where  the  responsibility  lies  ;  who  are  irre 
sponsible.  The  American  arrangement  —  not  our  work,  but  His 
—  has  grown  out  of  the  Wittenagemot  of  Britain,  a  thousand  years 
ago ;  out  of  the  wisdom  of  Alfred  and  the  folly  of  John ;  out  of 
Anglo-Saxon  privileges  reclaimed  in  Magna  Charta;  out  of  the 
Parliaments  of  Tudors  and  Stuarts ;  out  of  the  controversies  which 
prevailed,  and  the  principles  and  sentiments  which  were  ripening  at 
the  settlement  of  the  Anglican,  New  World ;  out  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses  of  Virginia,  1619,  the  first  copy  of  the  British  Constitu 
tion  in  the  West ;  the  first  germ  of  another  England  in  America, 
in  which  the  people  beheld  among  themselves  an  image  of  the  Bri 
tish  Constitution,  which  they  reverenced  as  the  most  perfect  model 
of  government ;  *  out  of  the  self-made  commonwealth,  debarked 
from  the  Mayflower  at  Plymouth,  1620;  out  of  the  charters  of 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island,  and  the  reclamations 
of  unchartered  colonies ;  out  of  the  determination  of  the  States, 
through  all  difficulties,  to  hold  the  inalienable  privileges  of  English 
men,  to  govern  themselves  on  the  principles  of  the  British  Parlia 
ment  in  each  separate  colony ;  and  finally,  out  of  the  circumstances 
by  which  they  were  wrought  at  once  into  method  and  habits  of  in- 

*  Bancroft. 


51 

dependent  action,  and  into  an  incipient  and  growing  unity.  That 
they  were  offsets  from  England,  made  them  partakers  at  their  de 
parture  and  in  their  settlement  "  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
Englishmen  ; "  and  that  they  were  planted  in  the  midst  of  savage 
tribes  prompted  by  European  enemies,  made  of  necessity  each  Co 
lonial  Legislature  supreme  in  the  highest  act  of  sovereignty  —  in, 
war  —  waiting  neither  for  one  another,  nor  for  Great  Britain  itself. 
That  their  exposure  was  common  to  all,  and  that  their  enemies  had 
a  bond  of  union  in  their  connection  with  a  great  European  power 
and  by  the  waters  of  the  West,  suggested  and  required  a  union 
practical  and  substantial,  ever  progressing  towards  a  unity  in  form. 
Each  colony  became  thus  another  England,  and  yet  all  so  situated 
with  reference  to  peace  and  war  as  to  force  the  many  Englands 
for  common  purposes  into  one.  The  absolute  power  of  chartered 
companies  or  grantees  under  the  Crown,  and  of  the  royal  Duke 
himself — the  British  throne  —  Parliament  —  did  not,  could  not, 
withstand  the  force  of  circumstances,  the  work  of  Providence,  the 
ordinance  of  God,  preparing  separate  sovereignties  for  union  in 
common  purposes  under  a  limited  supremacy. 

As  union  grew  into  form,  how,  from  the  earliest  periods,  was 
State  supremacy  at  once  maintained  and  yielded,  until  the  slow  but 
sure  work  of  Providence  produced  our  actual  Union,  as  expressed 
in  the  Constitution  !  "  Danger  taught  the  colonies  the  necessity  of 
union;  and  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1690,  New  York  beheld  the 
momentous  example  of  an  American  Congress,"  by  the  concurrence 
of  other  colonies  with  the  proposal  of  Massachusetts,  thus  early 
preparing  "  the  forms  of  independence  and  union."  * 

"The  Commissioners  at  Albany,  1754,  were  unanimously  of  opin 
ion  that  a  union  of  the  colonies  was  necessary  for  the  common 
defence  against  the  French  and  Indians."  Such,  before  the  Revolu 
tionary  struggle,  were  the  germs  of  union  ;  not  of  the  confederation 
of  1781,  but  of  the  Constitution  of  1787 ;  springing  up  from  the 
original  circumstances  and  condition  of  the  country  —  from  prov 
idential  direction.  As  the  revolutionary  struggle  advanced,  how,  in 
like  manner,  were  State  supremacy  and  central  direction  still  grow 
ing  together,  and  still  tending  to  that  distribution  of  powers  of  which 
the  Constitution  is  the  literal  expression !  The  actual  assembling  of 

*  Bancroft. 


52 

nine  colonies,  with  the  concurrence  of  others,  at  New  York,  Octo 
ber,  1765,  and  their  "agreement  on  a  declaration  of  rights,  and  on 
a  statement  of  grievances ; "  the  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia, 
September,  1774,  the  whole  uniting  in  the  claim  of  "  free  and  ex 
clusive  power  of  legislation  in  their  several  provincial  legislatures," 
and  this  in  right  of  emigration,  as  "  free  and  natural-born  subjects  " 
of  the  "  realm  of  England,"  and  its  subsequent  acts  of  sovereignty 
for  the  common  defence;  the  imperfect  convention  acceded  to  in 
1781,  retaining  too  much  State  sovereignty,  and  leaving  too  little 
with  the  common  head ;  declining  the  unity  for  which  Providence 
had  provided  of  separated  sovereignties  under  a  single  sovereignty, 
and  thereby  requiring  its  renewal  and  its  establishment;  and  finally, 
the  actual  settlement  of  the  present  Constitution  in  1787,  not  in  com 
promise  of  opposing  claims,  but  in  conformity  with  the  provisions 
of  Nature  and  Providence,  with  the  ordinance  of  God ;  —  all  these 
were  but  so  many  stages  of  development  according  to  necessity  and 
circumstances,  until  the  letter  came  to  agree  with  the  substance  — 
the  expression  with  the  reality.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  not  first  made  when  it  was  voted  and  proffered  to  the 
people,  but  then  merely  unfolded  and  delivered  as  the  gift  of  Heav 
en,  which  ages  had  provided.  Our  fathers,  like  their  fathers,  in 
every  stage  of  their  progress,  in  all  their  remonstrances  and  dec 
larations,  claimed  not  new  privileges,  but  old  ones;  not  what  men 
could  give,  but  what  God  had  given ;  brought  with  them  across  the 
Atlantic,  and  exalting  their  provincial  assemblies  into  embryo  Par 
liaments  ;  each  new  England  holding  of  right  what  no  king  or  Par 
liament  could  take  away.  Our  fathers,  like  their  fathers,  the  barons 
of  Runnymede,  and  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  later  times,  said,  for 
substance,  Nolumus  leges  Anglia  mutari :  What  God  has  given  us 
must  not  be  changed  —  cannot  be  changed. 

In  aid  of  the  progressive  circumstances  producing  the  union  of 
separate  and  sovereign  States  has  been  the  physical  structure  of  the 
country,  fitted  for  local  governments  equally,  whether  on  the  nar 
rowest  or  broadest  scale,  —  for  a  Virginia  and  New  York,  or  a  Del 
aware  and  Rhode  Island,  —  and  at  the  same  time  enabling  and 
requiring  the  combination  of  many  into  one.  The  first  settlements 
along  the  Atlantic  border,  so  widely  separate  as  to  be  obliged  to  act 
alone,  found  the  ocean  which  washed  their  shores  a  bond  of  union, 
enabling  them  to  unite  for  the  common  defence.  As  the  settlements 


53 

extended,  new  bonds  of  union  were  found  in  the  rivers  and  lakes 
of  the  North,  and  then  again  in  the  great  rivers  of  the  "West,  join 
ing,  almost,  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  North,  and  binding  all  to 
the  southern  gulf;  connecting  the  North  and  the  South,  the  East 
and  the  West,  as  by  the  ordinances  of  nature  itself,  which  cannot 
be  changed.  And  then,  as  the  States  have  grown  stronger  under 
the  protection  of  the  Union,  how  have  they  employed  their  pro 
tected  strength,  not  in  sundering,  but  in  strengthening  and  increas 
ing  the  national  bonds ;  the  States  more  capable  of  separate  action 
because  they  were  united,  and  employing  that  action  in  perfecting 
and  establishing  the  Union ;  binding  themselves  by  separate  acts 
of  sovereignty  more  firmly  into  one  !  New  York  building  the  Erie 
Canal ;  Pennsylvania  uniting  the  Delaware  and  the  waters  of  the 
West  and  South ;  and  other  States  joining  them,  first  in  artificial 
watercourses,  and  now  in  railroads,  the  works  of  many  separate 
States,  overspreading  the  Union,  bind  together  with  new  bands  the 
four  great  quarters  of  the  land  into  a  still  more  indissoluble  one. 
This  view  of  necessary  union,  by  means  of  physical  condition, 
matched  by  a  providential  work,  did  not  fail  of  influence  in  pro 
ducing  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  and  in  securing  the  formality 
of  ratification.  "  It  has  often  given  me  pleasure,"  says  Governor 
Jay,  urging  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  in  concurrence  with 
Madison  and  Hamilton,  "  to  observe  that  independent  America  was 
not  composed  of  detached  and  distinct  territories,  but  that  one  con 
nected,  wide-spreading  country  was  the  portion  of  our  western  sons 
of  liberty.  A  succession  of  navigable  waters  forms  a  kind  of  chain 
round  its  borders,  as  if  to  bind  it  together ;  while  the  most  noble 
rivers  in  the  world,  running  at  convenient  distances,  present  them 
with  highways  for  the  easy  communication  of  friendly  aids,  and  the 
mutual  transportation  and  exchange  of  their  various  commodities." 
The  effect  of  internal  improvements  by  the  authority  of  separate 
and  sovereign  States,  in  perfecting  and  continuing  the  Union,  as  the 
protecting  Sovereign  of  the  whole,  is  thus  referred  to  by  Mr.  Clay, 
December  29,  1835,  while  yet  the  providential  mystery  of  union, 
by  separation,  was  but  partly  developed :  — 

"  The  States  have  undertaken  what  the  general  government  is 

prevented  from  accomplishing.     They  are  strengthening  the  Union 

by  various  lines  of  communication  thrown  across  and  through  the 

mountains.     New  York  has  completed  one  great  chain ;  Pennsyl- 

5* 


54 

vania  another,  bolder  in  conception,  and  far  more  arduous  in  execu 
tion.  Virginia  has  a  similar  work  in  progress,  worthy  of  all  her 
enterprise  and  energy.  A  fourth,  farther  south,  where  the  parts  of 
the  Union  are  too  loosely  connected,  has  been  projected.  These 
and  other  similar  undertakings  completed,  we  may  indulge  the  patri 
otic  hope  that  our  Union  will  be  bound  together  by  ties  and  interests 
that  shall  render  it  indissoluble." 

Thus  far,  most  certainly,  the  Constitution  is  conformity,  not  com 
promise.  State  supremacy  in  all  but  delegated  powers,  and  suprem 
acy  at  the  centre  in  those  powers,  is  God's  ordinance,  and  not  man's 
device,  leaving  the  responsibility  for  slavery  with  the  States,  forbid 
ding  it  to  the  United  States.  The  United  States  are  not  responsible 
under  the  Constitution,  and  are  not  responsible  for  the  Constitution 
against  all  scruples  and  evasions,  all  pretensions  and  attempts  to  the 
contrary. 


55 


CHAPTER    IX. 

UNION    BY    SEPARATION. 

THE  work  of  Providence  for  a  thousand  years  ;  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  from  the  first  settlement  of  this  country,  decided  the 
American  arrangement  of  State  and  National  sovereignties  —  the 
facts,  as  the  Constitution  has  expressed  them  in  the  letter.  The 
force  of  circumstances,  the  necessities  of  our  condition,  inherited 
powers  growing  and  developing  in  the  progress  of  events,  made  the 
Constitution  for  us,  not  by  us,  as  God's  ordinance  and  not  as  man's 
device ;  not  by  compromise,  but  conformity.  The  framers  of  the 
Constitution  had  this  highest  wisdom,  that  they  perceived  and  ex 
pressed  what  Providence  had  wrought.  All  honor  to  their  memory ! 
This  arrangement  of  Heaven  finds  illustration  in  the  whole  work 
of  the  States  by  which  we  became  the  United  States  above  and 
against  all  enemies  and  rivals,  and  in  the  harmony  of  Central  and 
State  sovereignties  as  the  United  States.  If  the  States  had  not 
been  separately  sovereign,  we  should  never  have  become  the 
United  States  at  all ;  and  since  we  have  become  such,  neither  ab 
sorption  nor  separation,  neither  concentration  nor  nullification,  have 
been  found  to  be  possible. 

What,  then,  is  it  that  has  given  the  United  States  a  place  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  as  a  great,  undivided,  and  happy  people  ? 
How  is  it  that  the  most  perfect  government  of  the  European  world 
has  taken  root  and  grown  until  it  has  spread  itself  almost  from  gulf 
to  gulf,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean  ?  —  that  a  new  and  larger  Eng 
land  has  been  established  in  America  ?  that  we  have  another  Magna 
Charta,  parliaments,  the  English  race,  and  language,  and  charac 
ter,  and  principles,  and  literature,  prevailing  over  all  other  Euro 
pean  claimants,  over  all  enemies  and  rivals  ?  Is  it  not  due  to  the 
separate  State  sovereignties  that  we  are  the  United  States  at  all  ? 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  early  advantage  belonged  to  other 
nations ;  —  to  France,  occupying  the  northern  and  southern  gulfs, 


56 

and  their  tributary  rivers,  with  lines  of  military  posts,  and  hostile 
tribes  extending  two  thousand  miles  in  our  rear  ;  to  Holland,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson,  the  most  important  intermediate  inlet,  sepa 
rating  the  English  settlements  from  each  other ;  to  Spain,  even, 
especially  when  the  others  were  no  longer  enemies  or  rivals,  taking 
the  place  of  France  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  rivers  of  the 
West,  and  with  such  hope  as  to  establish  a  New  Madrid  almost  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  as  the  future  capital  of  the  "  Great  (Span 
ish)  West."  Whence  came  it  that  the  English  race — hemmed  in 
upon  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  divided  from  each  other  by  an  inter 
mediate  State,  shut  out  from  the  great  inlets  and  intercourses,  and 
incessantly  assailed  —  so  marvellously  prevailed  over  all  enemies 
and  rivals  ;  nay,  assimilated  to  themselves  enemies  and  rivals,  and 
are  assimilating  all  other  European  nations  into  one  undivided 
English  people?  Whence,  but  because  at  their  beginning  each 
State  was  a  New  England,  with  a  parliament  capable  of  govern 
ment  and  action  at  every  separate  point  of  attack  from  that  hostile 
array,  and  of  uniting  also  for  the  common  defence  ?  It  was  New 
England,  for  instance,  with  all  the  elements  of  our  actual  union, 
combining  the  forces  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecti 
cut,  and  New  Hampshire,  which  secured  the  surrender  of  Louis- 
burg,  "  the  Gibraltar  of  America,"  June  17th,  1744.  It  was 
Virginia,  with  a  constitutional  life  beating  high  from  1619, 
with  a  virtual  sovereignty  competent  to  devise  and  execute  in 
regard  to  her  Ohio  frontier,  which  held  fast  to  the  valley  of 
the  west  for  the  united  whole,  educating  thus  the  "  Father  of  his 
Country."  It  was  the  colonies,  separate  and  combined,  chiefly, 
which  secured  the  surrender  of  the  French  posts  on  the  western 
lakes  and  rivers,  and  the  cession  of  Canada,  1760;  and  at  length 
the  whole  land,  from  gulf  to  gulf,  to  one  undivided  English  people, 
assimilated  from  all  European  nations,  to  be  carried  forth  as  one 
people,  from  ocean  to  ocean.  This  vast  and  growing  nation,  united 
by  separation,  more  intimately  blended  into  one  than  any  other  nation 
on  the  face  of  the  globe  —  woven  together  by  mutual  relations  and 
intercourse,  as  by  the  minutest  threads,  into  one  common,  yet  divid 
ed  unity,  has  been  formed  by  means  of  separate  States,  whose 
principles  of  life  have  been  the  gift  of  a  gracious  Providence  for  a 
thousand  years.  We  are  what  we  are  in  the  existing  fact,  because 
we  were  what  we  were  in  the  very  elements  of  our  being.  The 


57 

elements  of  the  Constitution  made  the  United  States,  not  the  United 
States  the  Constitution ;  have  given  us  our  united  and  have  left  to 
us  our  separate  responsibilities. 

And  how  has  it  been  since  we  have  been  the  United  States  ? 
Have  we  been  able  to  set  aside  the  ordinance  of  God  which  made 
us  many,  and  thereby  made  us  one  ?  to  be  less  or  more  than  sepa 
rate  sovereignties  under  a  limited  head  ?  Even  under  the  conven 
tion  of  1781,  when  we  undertook  to  reverse  the  appointment  of 
Heaven  manifested  in  that  closer  union,  which  "  danger  "  produced 
as  early  as  1690,  which  the  necessities  of  the  "common  defence" 
suggested  in  1754,  and  which,  against  all  reluctances  of  the  States, 
was  forced  upon  Congress  and  upon  Washington,  that  there  might 
be  one  mind  and  action  for  the  whole,  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
whole,  —  how  signally  we  failed !  When  common  dangers  and  neces 
sities  ceased,  we  substituted  for  that  powerful  bond  a  rope  of  sand, 
that  we  might  become  what  we  had  never  been  from  the  first,  mere 
separate  sovereignties.  But  did  we  remain  so  ?  Could  we  thus  set 
aside  the  unity  which  Providence  had  wrought  for  us,  and  which  He 
had  made  the  condition  of  those  single  sovereignties  we  claimed  ? 
How  signally  we  acknowledged  a  bond  never  to  be  loosed,  even  when 
we  thought  we  had  refused  to  be  bound  at  all !  Strange  to  say  ! 
That  Providence  which  overrules  the  governments  of  men,  which  sees 
in  the  germ  that  which  unfolds  itself  in  the  growth,  which  preserves 
above  and  beyond  human  forethought  that  which  human  forethought 
presumes  to  destroy,  still  kept  in  the  minds  of  our  fathers  the  sub 
stantial  idea  and  intention,  at  the  very  time  they  refused  the  form 
which  His  providence  required.  Claiming  to  be  but  thirteen  sepa 
rate  States,  under  rules  and  methods  which  rendered  united  action 
impossible,  they  claimed,  nevertheless,  the  reality  and  the  substance 
of  State  sovereignties  and  central  supremacy,  for  then,  and  for  the 
future  ;  for  the  original  thirteen  States  and  for  indefinite  increase ; 
for  more  and  still  more  separate  sovereignties,  all  becoming  more 
and  more  united  under  a  common  head  !  What  else  meant  they 
by  the  motto,  adopted  June  20th,  1782,  "E  PLURIBUS  UNUM," 
—  many  and  yet  one  ;  one  and  yet  many,  above  and  beyond  all 
powers  of  division  or  of  concentration,  while  by  the  letter  of  the 
"  convention  "  they  were  many  and  not  one  ?  What  else  meant  they 
by  the  reverse  of  that  national  seal,  —  by  that  significant  emblem, 
that  devout  acknowledgment,  —  the  unfinished  pyramid,  compact 


58 

and  firm,  to  become  more  compact  and  firm  the  more  stones  are 
added  to  the  structure  ;  and  yet  not  by  man's  device,  but  by  God's 
ordinance,  under  the  eye  of  Heaven,  and  with  the  devout  acknowl 
edgment,  "  Annuit  Cceptis"  —  God  has  built  the  United  States, 
and  will  build  them  more  and  more  perfectly  in  one.  At  the  very 
time  when  the  States  claimed  to  be  many  and  not  one,  they  ac 
knowledged  the  indissoluble  unity  which  Providence  had  wrought. 

And  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  — the  conforming  of 
the  letter  to  the  arrangements  of  Heaven,  —  how  remarkably  has 
the  ordinance  of  God  prevailed,  making  still  the  many  one,  and  the 
one  many.  The  States  have  not  been  able  to  be  less  or  more  than 
self-regulating  States,  under  the  protection  of  a  supreme  govern 
ment  :  —  The  United  States  have  not  been  able  to  be  less  or  more 
than  a  supreme  government  amidst  self-regulating  and  sovereign 
States.  Absorption  and  separation,  concentration  and  nullification, 
have  been  alike  impossible. 

Thus,  in  every  stage  of  progress,  before  and  since  the  Convention 
of  1787,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  God's  ordinance 
and  not  man's  device  ;  the  wisdom  of  its  framers  is  manifest,  not  in 
compromising  with  the  will  of  man,  but  in  conformity  to  the  wisdom 
of  heaven ;  no  less  in  what  is  withholden  than  in  what  is  given,  in 
what  remains  with  the  States,  than  in  what  is  yielded  to  the  con 
federated  head.  In  the  words  of  Washington,  applicable  equally  to 
a  thousand  years  of  the  history  of  our  fathers,  and  to  more  than 
two  hundred  from  the  settlement  of  these  States  :  "  Every  step  by 
which  the  United  States  have  advanced  to  the  character  of  an  inde 
pendent  nation  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  by  some  token  of 
an  overruling  Providence."  *  Especially  after  the  British  Consti 
tution  was  transplanted  to  these  States,  distinct  and  separate,  and  yet 
forced  to  both  independent  and  united  action ;  —  circumstances,  dec 
larations,  acknowledgments,  customs,  precedents,  common  law,  and 
common  understanding,  had  settled  at  once  State  supremacy,  and  a 
confederated  head,  before  the  Convention  of  1787,  so  that  that  Con 
vention  could  not  annul  either  —  whose  work  was  not  compromise, 
but  conformity  to  the  work  of  Providence,  which  they  could  not  over 
rule.  Nay,  so  absolute  was  that  Providence,  so  controlling  were  cir 
cumstances  and  events,  that  the  Convention  of  1787  could  not  have 

*  Inaugural,  1789. 


59 

prevented,  for  substance,  the  present  Constitution.  Had  they 
failed  to  form  it,  it  would  have  gone  on  to  form  itself,  developing  and 
fixing  the  reality  in  anticipation  of  the  letter.  Nay,  more  ;  so  cer 
tain  and  so  determinate  is  the  work  of  Providence,  the  ordinance 
of  God,  that  it  cannot  now  be  set  aside ;  not  the  sovereignty  of  the 
States,  not  the  supremacy  of  the  United  States.  A  Convention  of 
1856  could  not  annul  the  great  provisions  of  the  Constitution  forced 
upon  us  three  score  years  ago  —  could  restore  neither  the  separate 
States  nor  the  United  States  to  the  nominal  powers  and  real  impo 
tence  which  followed  the  peace  of  1783  —  could  not  make  the 
United  States  the  seat  of  power  and  responsibility  for  the  several 
parts.  Impossible  attempt !  which,  adopted  in  the  form  of  a  new 
and  accepted  Constitution,  would  disappear  like  the  baseless  vis 
ions  of  the  night,  leaving  the  substance  which  God  has  ordained 
—  State  sovereignties  and  limited  supremacy,  as  settled  principles 
of  the  American,  as  Magna  Charta  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  are  of 
both  it  and  the  British  Constitution;  as  old  and  not  new  —  the 
inheritance  of  the  past,  and  not  the  gift  of  the  present  —  conform 
ity  to  Providential  arrangement,  and  not  compromise  with  the  will 
of  man.  Impossible  attempt !  to  concentrate  authority  so  as  to 
make  the  United  States  responsible  for  what  has  been  the  separate 
work  of  the  States  ;  or  so  to  assume  State  powers  as  to  set  aside 
the  legitimate  and  prescriptive  supremacy  of  the  United  States. 

And  do  men  dream  that  they  ought  to  break  up  what  God  has 
thus  established  without  their  devices,  above  their  work  —  to  dissolve 
the  Union  formed  by  the  Providential  fittings  and  cements  of  many 
centuries  ?  Do  men  dream  that  they  can  resolve,  and  speak  out  of 
being,  what  God  has  spoken  into  being,  above  all  counter-plans  of 
their  enemies  and  of  themselves  —  that  they  can  break  up  that  union 
by  which  God  has  provided  for  the  highest  prosperity  of  each  sev 
eral  part,  and  in  that  prosperity,  for  a  more  powerful  and  wider 
unity  ?  What  if  the  provisions  which  God  wrought  out  in  a  thou 
sand  years  of  English  and  Colonial  history  —  the  work  of  Divine 
Providence  above  and  against  man ;  what  if  these  were  set  aside, 
as  the  mere  letter  which  man's  hand  had  written,  the  mere  device 
and  decree  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention  —  would  they  be  set 
aside  ?  Could  they?  What  if  the  Union  were  dissolved  by  unan 
imous  vote,  by  peaceable  consent,  into  two  Unions,  or  three,  or  four, 
or  into  thirty  sovereign  States ;  would  the  Union  be  dissolved  ? 


60 

Could  it  ?  Impossible  !  again  and  again,  impossible !  Not  thus  can 
man  contravene  the  "  powers  ordained  of  God " ;  not  thus  destroy 
in  a  day,  God's  work  for  centuries  —  not  thus  break  down  the  pyr 
amid  built,  and  still  rising,  compact  and  firm  under  the  eye  of  the 
Omnipotent !  Dissolve  the  Union  !  "Why,  we  should  still  lie  bound 
together  by  the  same  waters,  the  same  oceans,  and  gulfs,  and  bays, 
and  rivers,  and  lakes,  which  God  has  given  us  in  common  ;  and  by 
the  same  canals  and  railroads  which,  under  his  ordinances,  our  hands 
have  built ;  binding  us  into  an  indissoluble  one !  —  bound  together 
by  the  same  necessities,  and  facilities  of  mutual  intercourse  —  the 
same  inherited  and  prescriptive  powers  of  acting  separately  for  sep 
arate  purposes,  and  of  acting  together,  for  purposes  common  to  all ! 
Dissolve  the  Union !  Why,  the  Union  would  return  upon  us  again, 
as  it  did  when  we  attempted  to  dissolve  it  in  1781 — when  we 
preferred  to  be  parts,  and  not  a  whole  —  would  return  as  it  did  in 
1787  —  in  the  letter  of  the  Constitution. 

A  Convention  of  1856,  could  it  dissolve  the  Union?  The  States 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  —  the  States  south  of  that  sec 
tional  boundary  —  under  whatever  scruples  or  jealousies,  can 
they  recede  ?  Could  they  dissolve  the  Union  ?  We  venture  to 
say  that  if  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  should  take  place,  with  what 
ever  unanimity  of  decision  or  permission,  that  it  would  not  take 
place  ;  that  it  would  be  as  nugatory  as  the  (quasi)  dissolution  of 
1781,  which  produced  the  letter  of  the  Constitution.  King  John 
and  King  James  may  think  that  they  can  break  up  the  Providen 
tial  arrangements  which  are  growing  into  the  British  Constitution, 
that  they  can  make  a  subservient  or  a  despotic  monarchy ;  but  they 
cannot.  The  Constitution  reappears  above  them  and  against  them, 
as  the  growth  of  the  olden  time,  in  a  new  Magna  Charta,  and  a 
new  Bill  of  Rights.  The  northern  States  may  think  they  can  with 
draw  from  the  southern,  and  thus  only  be  innocent  of  their  errors  ; 
the  southern  may  think  they  can  withdraw  from  the  northern,  and 
thus  only  be  safe  from  their  interference;  but  they  cannot  put 
asunder  what  God  has  joined  together.  Above  and  against  them, 
the  Constitution  will  reappear,  and  the  union  of  State  sovereignties 
be  more  and  more  established. 

There  is  but  one  exception  to  this  assumption.  No  doubt  sepa 
ration  into  two  hostile  parts  is  possible,  at  the  sword's  point,  at  the 
cannon's  mouth,  along  the  dividing  line.  At  war,  there  may  be  a 


61 

northern  and  southern  Union ;  but  as  with  nations  naturally  and 
providentially  distinct,  the  exhaustion  of  war  compels  to  peace ; 
with  States  naturally  and  providentially  connected,  it  would  end  in 
reunion.  On  two  sides  of  a  boundary  of  blood,  we  niay  be  for  a 
season  two  nations,  until,  wearied  and  worn  out  with  violence  and 
rapine,  we  become  prepared,  not  for  peace  between  nations,  but 
for  another  cycle  of  Union,  as  a  great  national  family,  —  as  one 
great  and  undivided  English  people,  responsible  as  a  whole  for 
what  belongs  to  the  whole,  and  as  parts  for  what  belongs  to  the 
parts. 

6 


62 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   LAW    OF   EQUAL    FORCES. 

BESIDES  the  fact  that  State  sovereignty  with  union  only  in  regard 
to  matters  in  common,  is  God's  ordinance  and  not  man's  device, 
and  that  the  United  States  have  therefore  no  authority  in  regard  to 
slavery ;  there  is  this  further  reason  against  all  common  legislation 
in  the  matter,  that  the  great  Overruler  has  so  ordered  the  balance 
of  sections,  that  if  we  had  authority,  it  would  be  annulled  by  a 
necessary  impotence. 

Owing  to  relative  weight,  to  equilibrium  of  forces,  the  United  States 
would  be  incapable  of  action,  could  never  abolish  or  regulate  slavery, 
even  if  they  had  the  authority.  Providence  has  so  ordered  the  con 
dition  of  these  United  States,  that  neither  the  northern  nor  south 
ern  section  can  make  an  availing  legislation  against  the  will  of  the 
other.  The  North  is  as  impotent  as  the  South,  the  South  as  impo 
tent  as  the  North,  by  the  law  of  equal  forces.  Sectional  equili 
brium  must  prevent  any  decisive  exercise  of  a  central  authority, 
even  if  that  authority  existed.  Where  there  is  equal  weight  in  both 
scales,  the  scales  cannot  be  turned.  Equal  sections  of  the  same 
country  have  only  this  alternative,  ineffectual  and  injurious  conten 
tion,  or  to  agree  to  differ,  —  submitting  to  inaction  where  there  is 
no  power  to  act. 

This  equilibrium  of  sections,  this  impossibility  of  action,  existed 
at  the  formation  of  the  Constitution.  Besides  the  inherited  and  pre 
scriptive  right  of  the  States  to  manage  their  local  affairs,  the  relative 
weight  of  sections  forbade  sectional  action.  There  was  no  power  in 
either  scale  to  turn  the  balance.  The  States  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  and  the  States  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  were 
as  nearly  even  poised  as  possible,  (the  minute  slaveholding  of  the 
North  notwithstanding,)  and  from  that  sectional  balance  inaction 
necessarily  followed  ;  useless  debate  giving  place  to  leaving  matters 
as  they  were.  This  inaction  was  inevitable,  save  only  in  whatever 


points  both  sections  could  agree,  as  for  manifest  reasons  they  did 
upon  the  foreign  slave  trade,  limited  to  1808.  It  was  not  compro 
mise,  but  necessity ;  it  was  not  a  criminal  yielding  to  the  will  of 
the  South,  but  a  providential  equilibrium,  which  left  slavery  exist 
ing  by  the  Constitution,  and  would  have  left  it  even  though  the 
United  States  had  possessed  authority  in  the  case,  unless  equals  can 
be  unequals ;  unless  equilibrium  can  turn  the  scales. 

The  same  principle  has  governed,  not  the  action  but  the  inac 
tion  of  the  United  States,  hitherto,  in  the  admission  of  new  slave- 
holding  States.  At  every  stage  the  previous  sectional  balance 
rendered  that  admission  inevitable,  —  in  each  case  ineffectual  and 
injurious  contention  giving  way  to  the  necessary  agreement  to  differ. 
Impossibility  of  action  to  the  contrary,  has  preserved  and  continued 
the  original  equilibrium.  The  tree  has  only  grown  on  both  sides 
according  to  its  former  proportions.  The  evil  may  or  may  not  be 
greater  than  would  have  ensued  if  the  non-slaveholding  States  had 
had  both  authority  and  power  to  open  the  whole  South  to  a  free 
African  population ;  but  how  plainly  the  new  slaveholding  States 
have  been  admitted  into  the  Union  by  necessary  inaction,  by  means 
of  previous  sectional  balance !  It  was  no  more  possible  to  rule 
slavery  out  of  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  than  to  rule  it 
into  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan.  The  southern  territory,  espe 
cially  adapted  to  the  productions  and  labor  of  the  South,  became 
the  natural  field  for  southern  emigration,  as  part  and  parcel  of  the 
actual  southern  population,  with  slavery,  while  relative  weight 
assured  it  to  them  in  the  Union,  against  whatever  will  or  opposition 
of  the  North.  Nay,  if  the  North  had  possessed  a  preponderance 
in  the  legislative  halls,  and  could  have  passed  a  sectional  vote  against 
a  large  minority,  the  final  result  would  not  have  been  different ; 
so  impossible  is  it  to  enforce  decrees  against  the  natural  course  of 
population,  against  the  habits  and  prescriptions,  against  the  will  and 
opposition  of  great  sections  of  a  country.  The  most  determined 
vigilance  of  a  military  police,  the  severest  penalties  and  the  most 
rigorous  execution  of  sectional  law  against  one  third  or  one  fourth 
part  of  the  Union,  would  have  been  found  ineffectual,  and  must  at 
length  have  yielded  to  the  pressure.  However  this  may  be,  most 
certainly  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  carried  out  any 
law  against  the  natural  progress  of  the  South  towards  the  West, 
while  the  relative  weight  of  both  sections  was  substantially  the  same  j 


64 

—  for  equal  sections  to  have  been  any  thing  else  but  a  balance  to 
each  other. 

The  impossibility  ruling  at  the  formation  of  the  Constitution, 
and  ruling  since  in  the  increasing  number  of  the  States,  rules  still, 
and  would  prevent  the  action  of  the  United  States  for  the  regula 
tion  or  abolition  of  southern  slavery,  by  authority,  precisely  as  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  South  to  impose  slavery  on  the 
North ;  for  the  want  of  sectional  preponderance.  As  at  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  the  thirteen  States  were  balanced  upon 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  so  that  a  controlling  power  was  impossible 
to  either  section,  so  are  the  thirty-one  States  now  balanced  as  equally 
upon  the  actual  line  which  separates  the  free  and  slaveholding  States. 
Granting  the  free  States  the  advantage  in  numbers,  in  their  homo 
geneous  population,  and  in  the  vigor  and  activity  of  all  classes  of  the 
people,  the  balance  of  the  slaveholding  States  is  found  in  their 
command  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  West,  and  in  their  possession  of 
the  great  staple  of  northern  manufactures.  So  nearly  equal  are 
the  two  sections,  that  any  absolute  and  decisive  preponderance  of 
the  North  is  impossible.  Even  if  the  Senate  were  constituted  on 
the  same  principles  as  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  thereby 
a  majority  of  both  houses  could  be  secured,  how  certain  it  is  that  no 
law  of  regulation  or  abolition  could  or  would  be  enforced  against  the 
will  and  opposition  of  the  South !  If  the  United  States  had  at  this 
moment  constitutional  authority  in  the  premises,  it  would  be  impos 
sible  to  exercise  it,  from  relative  weight,  from  sectional  equilibrium. 
Like  two  nations,  substantially  equal,  their  alternative  would  be,  un 
availing  strife,  or  the  agreement  to  differ.  In  truth,  whether  enforced 
or  unenforced,  legislation  would  end  in  establishing  that  which  it 
began  to  remove. 

Such  being  our  views  of  the  necessary  results  of  sectional  equili 
brium,  we  do  not  accept  the  common  explanation  of  the  allowance 
and  progress  of  slavery  hitherto,  as  by  compromises  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  or  still  worse,  by  southern  domination  and 
northern  subserviency.  As  it  was  not  determinate  action,  but 
necessary  inaction,  which  ruled  in  the  allowance  of  slavery  by  the 
Constitution,  so  it  was  in  fixing  the  sectional  line  of  36.  30.,  and  in 
the  "treaty"  with  Texas.  So  inevitable  was  inaction  from  the 
previous  equilibrium  of  forces,  that  if  the  North  had  prevailed  in 
either  case,  by  some  advantage  of  the  moment,  most  surely  it  would 


65 

not  have  prevailed.  No  sectional  vote,  according  to  northern  views, 
could  have  been  carried  out  and  enforced  against  the  South.  Equi 
librium  could  not  have  given  a  final  and  settled  preponderance. 
The  maintenance  of  slavery  at  the  South  and  its  extension  to  the 
southern  West,  has  been  due,  not  to  voluntary  compromise  between 
the  North  and  South,  but  to  the  impossibility  of  turning  an  even- 
balanced  scale  ;  not  to  neglect  or  consent  on  the  part  of  the  North, 
but  to  necessary  inaction  ;  not  to  northern  weight  thrown  into  the 
scale,  but  to  southern  weight  itself  keeping  the  balance  even  ;  not 
to  an  overruling  South,  but  to  equal  impotence  of  both  North  and 
South  against  each  other;  not,  in  fine,  to  southern  domination  and 
northern  subserviency,  but  to  that  relative  weight  which  gives  no 
occasion  for  either. 

We  do  not  forget  the  claim  that  there  should  then  be  no  United 
States  at  all ;  that  the  North  should  separate  from  the  South,  in 
order  not  to  be  partaker  of  other  men's  sins.  Not  to  dwell  upon 
the  assumption  of  the  last  chapter,  that  this  is  not  left  to  our  choice, 
—  that  the  union  ordained  by  the  will  of  Providence  cannot  be 
broken  by  the  will  of  man,  —  we  may  confidently  assert  that  if  we 
had  the  power  to  separate  any  member  from  the  body,  or  to  divide 
the  body  into  two  living  parts,  then  there  is  no  conceivable  reason 
for  doing  so.  What  if  we  are  so  equally  balanced  that  the  North 
cannot  control  the  South,  nor  the  South  the  North  ?  What  if  we 
cannot  decree  and  enforce,  the  one  section  against  the  will  and 
opposition  of  the  other,  and  thereby  each  is  left  to  its  own  choice 
and  responsibility  in  matters  local  and  sectional  ?  May  we  then 
form  no  partnership  in  any  thing,  because  we  cannot  become  part 
ners  in  every  thing  ?  May  we  maintain  no  relations  with  men, 
unless  they  can  be  ruled  by  us  in  all  relations  ?  May  government 
be  common  for  no  purposes  without  being  common  for  all  purposes  ? 
In  fine,  may  not  the  northern  and  southern  sections,  though  incapa 
ble  of  ruling  each  other  on  the  great  sectional  question,  still  sail  on 
the  same  oceans,  gulfs,  bays,  and  rivers ;  under  the  protection  of  the 
same  forts  and  fleets ;  and  in  the  same  relations  to  our  own  separate 
States  and  to  other  nations,  by  which  the  common  opportunities  are 
preserved  and  the  common  thoroughfares  of  the  world  kept  open  ? 

Is  there,  then,  no  scope  at  the  South  for  northern  philanthropy  ? 
Undoubtedly  there  is ;  none  the  less  because  it  must  needs  be  with 
out  authority,  where  no  authority  exists,  and  without  a  decisive 
6* 


66 

weight  where  an  overruling  Providence  has  made  the  balances  even. 
Authority  disclaimed,  impotence  to  overrule  acknowledged,  and  the 
vain  struggle  of  equal  sections  finished,  there  will  be  the  freest 
scope  to  whatever  northern  wisdom  and  good  will.  With  authority 
we  could  do  nothing,  because  we  form  but  an  equal  section  of  the 
Union.  Without  authority,  without  power,  as  ready  to  check  our 
mistaken  earnestness  as  to  rouse  the  mistaken  apathy  of  our  breth 
ren  ;  as  ready  to  learn  as  to  teach,  we  shall  find  the  whole  South 
open  to  those  fraternal  councils  from  which  priceless  blessings  may 
be  hoped. 

Of  this  hope  we  have  a  striking  illustration.  No  doubt  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  North  to  regulate  the  cultivation  of  cot 
ton  by  a  sectional  vote,  would  have  failed,  if  there  had  been  author 
ity,  for  the  want  of  northern  weight  adequate  to  overrule  the  reluc 
tance  and  resistance  which  the  interference  would  have  called  forth. 
Nevertheless  the  weight  of  the  South  was  no  hinderance  to  northern 
ingenuity  and  industry.  The  necessity  of  leaving  the  care  of  cotton 
to  the  cotton-growing  States,  allowed  yet  fullest  scope  to  northern 
invention  and  manufactures,  as  great  elements  of  southern  prosperi 
ty.  Who  can  tell  how  many  times  the  wealth  of  the  South  has 
been  multiplied  by  the  cotton-gin  of  Whitney,  by  the  looms  and 
the  labors  of  scores  of  Lowells  and  Manchesters.  Let  it  not  be 
supposed,  in  regard  to  the  more  important  matter  of  their  social 
condition,  to  the  great  principles  of  moral  and  political  economy, 
that  wise  and  kind  reflection  and  suggestion  will  be  lost  upon  the 
South,  if  in  any  degree  they  shall  be  found  emanating  from  the 
North, 


67 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  STATE  SUPREMACY. 

THERE  cannot  be  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  South  than  the  claim 
that,  whether  by  authority  or  power,  by  inherited  rights  or  sectional 
equilibrium,  the  responsibility  is  theirs  alone.  If  the  North  desires 
to  see  a  remedy  for  slavery,  let  it  disclaim  all  intention,  let  it  dis 
card  all  attempt  to  overrule,  acknowledging  its  own  utter  impotence, 
and  ceasing  the  vain  struggle  of  equal  sections.  Instead  of  light 
ening  the  sense  of  responsibility  by  officious  interference,  let  the 
whole  weight  of  it  be  left  where  it  properly  belongs,  assured  that 
the  way  will  be  more  open  to  whatever  neighborly  and  philanthropic 
aids.  In  the  hope  that  our  suggestions  will  be  as  well  received  as 
they  are  well  meant,  we  proceed  to  note  certain  direct  advantages 
of  our  system  of  State  Administration. 

1.  The  slaveholding  States,  alone,  are  competent  to  the  specific 
wisdom  and  skill  required.  They,  only,  can  form  and  apply  a  Code 
truly  remedial. 

It  were  to  deny  the  principle  ,on  which  this  work  proceeds,  to 
assert  that  wisdom  and  skill  cannot  come  from  without.  But  no  one 
can  feel  more  sensibly  than  the  writer,  that  all  suggestions  from  the 
North  must  be  made  with  deference  to  the  local  knowledge  and  ex 
perience  of  the  South.  Whatever  wisdom  may  be  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  whole  experience  of  mankind  and  the  history  of 
races  rising  in  the  social  state  ;  or  from  American  experiments  with 
barbarism,  and  the  European  problem  of  the  "  masses,"  it  can  be 
only  in  the  seed,  and  not  in  the  harvest,  until  it  has  been  cultivated 
and  ripened  on  southern  soil.  Those,  only,  who  are  intimate  with 
the  character  and  condition  of  the  people,  and  with  the  climate  and 
productions  of  the  South,  are  capable  of  developing  completely  the 
principles  of  well-being,  in  application  to  masters  and  slaves  —  to 
the  whole  southern  population. 


68 

Besides,  how  vain  were  all  wisdom,  all  devices  and  methods  from 
without,  except  by  cooperation  from  within,  except  with  aid  and 
scope  given  on  the  spot.  If  the  northern  philanthropist  could  prof 
fer  the  maturity  and  the  fulness  of  wisdom,  he  can  do  nothing  unless 
the  southern  patriarch  adopt  and  employ  it.  The  wisdom  of  the 
cotton-gin  would  have  been  useless,  if  it  had  not  been  welcomed 
and  applied  by  the  growers  of  cotton. 

It  is  well,  further,  that  the  responsibility  is  not  even  sectional ;  that 
the  southern  section  cannot  legislate  for  the  southern  section  as  a 
whole ;  that  each  State  is  separately  responsible.  Now,  any  experi 
ment  must  needs  be  tried  on  a  small  scale,  with  the  opportunity  of  va 
rying  as  occasion  may  require,  until  it  can  be  made  a  fit  model  for  the 
rest ;  until,  commending  itself  to  the  common  sense  and  observation 
of  men,  it  shall  claim  to  be  adopted  by  all.  It  is  well,  especially, 
that  the  responsibility  is  not  national,  and  committed  to  divided 
councils,  incapable  of  any  other  action  but  interminable  contention ; 
nay,  that  it  is  not  committed  to  a  central  power,  capable  of  delaying 
or  preventing  desirable  measures  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  forcing 
those  that  are  undesirable,  on  the  other ;  or  even  of  carrying  with 
over  haste,  methods  which  are  practicable  only  by  slow  degrees, 
instead  of  limited  and  local  experiments,  growing  at  length  into  a 
wisdom  and  skill  fitted  for  the  widest  adoption. 

What  we  mean  here,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  the 
West  Indies  —  to  the  changes  produced  there  by  a  sovereign  au 
thority  over,  and  not  with  them ;  a  legislation  for  them,  and  not  by 
them ;  without  local  knowledge  and  experience,  and  against  the  good 
will  of  the  property  and  influence  of  the  country,  and  yet  of  uni 
versal  effect.  The  first  law  —  that  of  apprenticeship,  was  itself  de 
clared  over  hasty,  injudicious,  by  the  subsequent  act  of  emancipa 
tion,  while  that  act  done  and  finished,  for  better  or  worse,  is  rather 
claimed  as  good  a  priori,  from  abstract  principles,  than  by  the 
experiment  itself;  nay,  is  acknowledged  or  feared  as  a  failure,  by 
those  even  who  aided  and  hailed  the  enactment.  How  disastrous 
the  forced  result  may  prove,  is  thus  expressed  in  the  London  Times, 
April  30,  1849  :  u  With  a  race  of  blacks,  new  to  the  enjoyments, 
and  unschooled  by  the  discipline  of  freedom,  it  may  yet  be  our  fate 
to  see  the  hopes  of  benevolent,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  religious  men, 
destroyed  by  the  hideous  spectacle  of  a  new  and  more  barbarous 
St.  Domingo  rising  on  the  ruins  of  the  British  Antilles."  In  illus- 


69 

tration,  if  it  be  not  proof,  of  the  downward  tendency  of  the  actual 
emancipation  of  the  British  West  Indies,  we  have  the  statements 
from  Jamaica,  that  "  the  poverty  and  industrial  prostration  of  that 
island,  are  almost  incredible.  Since  1832,  out  of  the  six  hundred 
and  fifty-three  sugar  estates  then  in  cultivation,  more  than  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  have  been  abandoned,  and  the  works  broken  up.  This 
has  thrown  out  of  cultivation  over  200,000  acres  of  land,  which  in 
1832  gave  employment  to  about  30,000  laborers,  and  yielded  over 
15,000  hogsheads  of  sugar,  and  over  6,000  puncheons  of  rum. 
During  the  same  period,  over  five  hundred  Coffee  plantations  have 
been  abandoned,  and  their  works  broken  up.  This  threw  out  of 
cultivation  over  200,000  acres  more  of  land,  which  in  1832,  required 
the  labor  of  over  30,000."  Whether  these  statements  be  worthy  of 
credit  or  not,  they  serve  our  present  purpose  of  illustrating  what 
we  mean  by  over  hasty  and  injurious  legislation,  from  without, 
against  local  knowledge,  and  the  good  will  of  the  property  and  influ 
ence  of  the  Slave  States  themselves. 

2.  The  wisdom  of  a  single  State  has  every  opportunity  to  be  ex 
tended  to  other  States,  with  such  variations  as  the  peculiar  condition 
of  each  may  require.  If  the  separation  of  the  States  gives  the  fairest 
field  for  a  safe,  unexpensive,  and  advantageous  experiment,  their 
mutual  intercourse  affords  the  freest  possible  scope  for  its  repetition, 
for  its  adoption  according  to  its  tried  and  proved  merits,  as  wide  as 
the  evil  to  be  remedied.  It  is  well  that  each  State  only  has  the 
power  within  itself  to  devise  and  to  attempt,  to  vary  and  to  modify, 
to  begin  in  its  weakness  and  ignorance,  and  to  grow  in  wisdom  and 
skill  by  well-meant  endeavors,  until,  by  the  aid  of  Him  who  enables 
the  simple-hearted,  it  may  be  found  accomplishing  the  work  —  and 
then  it  is  well  that  the  way  is  open  for  the  example  to  be  followed 
by  other  States  in  like  condition.  The  narrowness  of  the  sover 
eignty,  incompetence  everywhere,  save  within  each  slaveholding 
State,  gives  the  best  opportunity  for  the  beginning,  and  the  intimate 
union  of  the  States  for  the  wide  and  rapid  extension  of  a  wise  and 
successful  experiment.  Happy,  in  so  great  a  matter  as  changing 
the  whole  condition  of  society,  that  no  central  authority  can  act 
upon  the  great  Section  concerned  —  can  make  an  immediate  and  uni 
versal  change.  Happy,  if  there  may  be  found  one  or  more  among  the 
States  competent  and  concerned,  so  truly  patriarchal  as  to  undertake 
a  method  of  well-being  suited  to  the  peculiar  case ;  to  begin  on  the 


70 

plainest  principles  of  common  sense,  and  to  grow  in  wisdom  and 
skill  until  it  shall  become  a  fit  model  for  the  rest.  Of  the  advan 
tage  thus  stated,  we  find  ample  illustration  in  the  general  history  of 
human  progress,  and  in  the  annals  of  our  own  nation  in  particular. 

The  mechanical  and  industrial  improvements  of  the  age  were  not 
over  hastily  undertaken  —  were  not  absolutely  hindered  by  central 
sovereignties,  but  grew  up  from  individual  devices  and  experiments, 
until  they  had  attained  a  perfection  in  which  they  could  become  the 
helpers  as  well  as  the  foster  children  of  many  nations.  Had  they 
depended  upon  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  or  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  or  still  more  upon  the  united  councils  of  all  civ 
ilized  nations  which  have  adopted  them,  they  would  not  have  been 
so  wisely  made,  or  so  rapidly  and  so  universally  introduced  It  was 
the  smallness  of  the  sphere,  rather,  which  enabled  successful  exper 
iment  ;  and  when  successful  experiment  was  made,  it  was  intimate 
connection  of  the  parts  of  a  country  with  each  other,  and  of  country 
with  country,  which  facilitated  their  ready  and  general  adoption. 
An  experimental  Watt,  proffering  his  improvements  to  the  parties 
concerned  for  a  moiety  of  the  savings  above  the  use  of  Newcomen's 
steam  engine,  brought  a  "  remedy "  to  all  the  coal  mines  of  Great 
Britain ;  concurring  with  an  experimental  Arkwright  and  Whitney, 
"reformed"  all  the  cotton  fields  of  the  South,  all  the  spinning 
wheels  and  looms  of  Europe  and  America ;  and  with  an  experi 
mental  Fulton  on  a  single  river  of  a  single  State  in  the  New 
World,  "  emancipated  "  navigation  from  the  chains  of  wind  and  tide, 
almost  in  every  sea,  and  lake,  and  river  of  the  globe. 

This  last  illustration  introduces  us  to  the  peculiar  advantages  of 
our  own  system,  depending  as  it  did,  for  its  first  impulse  and  scope, 
upon  the  questionable  patronage  of  a  single  State.  The  State  of 
New  York,  in  the  use  of  a  power  finally  decided  not  to  be  hers, 
gave  steam  navigation  to  the  United  States  and  to  mankind.  If  the 
'final  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  by  the  Courts  of  the  Union 
had  been  given  at  the  first  moment  of  experiment  and  uncertainty, 
it  would  have  hindered  instead  of  advancing ;  it  might  have 
destroyed  instead  of  sustaining,  the  great  undertaking  which,  besides 
opening  the  wide  world  of  waters  to  regular  and  rapid  communica 
tion  among  men,  has  also  shortened  by  three  fourths,  the  great 
thoroughfares  by  land,  through  our  own  States,  and  almost  through 
out  the  world. 


71 

The  same  State  of  New  York,  in  the  use  of  her  unquestionable 
powers,  has  given  another  illustrious  example.  Without  authority 
over  any  other  State,  without  power  —  simply  by  acting  for  herself, 
and  proving  for  herself,  and  thus  showing  what  was  good  for  others, 
she  has  led  the  whole  sisterhood  in  her  train.  Not  by  authority 
over  the  Union,  but  without  authority ;  not  by  centralization  of  the 
States,  but  by  subdivision  into  separate  sovereignties,  has  been  pro 
duced  a  system  of  internal  improvements  extending  over  all  the 
States ;  and  this  work  of  many  as  one,  is  due  to  the  enterprise  and 
success  of  the  single  State  of  New  York,  in  undertaking  and  cany- 
ing  through,  the  Erie  Canal ;  becoming  thus,  in  the  best  sense,  the 
Empire  State,  ruling  by  not  ruling,  becoming  by  example  and  influ 
ence  alone,  the  welcomed  Sovereign  of  the  whole.  A  single  State, 
in  the  use  of  its  own  inherited  and  acknowledged  powers,  experi 
menting  upon  its  own  facilities  and  resources,  with  great  misgivings, 
devised,  attempted,  modified,  perfected,  the  first  great  work  of  Inter 
nal  improvement ;  and  behold  other  States  have  followed  her  exam 
ple,  until  all  are  bound  together  by  Canals  and  Railroads,  doing  the 
work  of  each  separate  State  for  its  own  behoof,  and  yet  binding  all 
into  an  indissoluble  one ;  all  becoming  more  firmly  united  by  being 
so  distinctly  divided ;  a  more  perfect  one  because  they  were  many. 

This  capacity  in  a  State,  not  to  rule  many  States,  a  whole  section, 
or  the  whole  Union,  but  to  influence  by  a  worthy  example,  has  illus 
tration  in  our  earlier  annals ;  in  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  sepa 
rate  States  and  of  the  Union,  which  at  length  became  established 
and  completed.  The  whole  course  of  events  shows  the  advantage 
to  the  whole  of  separate  Sovereignty  in  the  parts.  For  its  own  all- 
important  purposes,  we  honor  and  value  the  United  Sovereignty 
which  God  has  given  us  ;  but  in  so  far  as  we  desire  either  a  sectional 
or  general  result  in  regard  to  purposes  belonging  to  the  separate 
States,  we  accept  rather  the  opportunity  and  the  scope  for  influence 
which  has  prevailed  so  often,  and  wrought  out  the  needful  advan 
tage.  By  the  influence  of  State  upon  State,  we  have  become 
what  we  are.  From  the  beginning  it  has  been  each  separate 
State,  experimenting  unconsciously  for  other  States,  which  has  led 
forward  our  deliverances  and  our  blessings.  In  the  wars  with  the 
savage  tribes,  and  their  European  abettors  and  leaders,  and  with  the 
mother  country,  and  in  the  rise  and  progress  of  our  separate  and 
united  powers,  up  to  the  Constitution  itself;  advantages  have  grown 


72 

by  means  of  our  separate  Sovereignties ;  State  example  and  influ 
ence,  prompting,  directing,  and  uniting  different  Sections,  and  the 
whole.  A  few  examples  will  suffice. 

It  was,  then,  by  this  influence  of  State  upon  State,  that  the  Rev 
olution  of  1688  was  carried  through  the  American  Colonies.  In 
the  acknowledgment  of  William  and  Mary,  and  the  establishment 
of  the  "  Bill  of  Rights,"  says  the  historian  Bancroft,  "  a  popular 
insurrection  beginning  at  Boston,  extended  to  the  Chesapeake  and  the 
wilderness."  The  idea  of  an  American  Congress  succeeded  natu 
rally  thereupon.  "  Invitations  were  given  by  letter  from  the  Gen 
eral  Court  of  Massachusetts,  and  extended  to  all  the  Colonies,  as 
far  at  least  as  Maryland.  Massachusetts,  the  parent  of  so  many 
States,  is  certainly  the  parent  of  the  American  Union,"  born  in  truth 
of  the  influence  of  State  upon  State,  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1690, 
when  "  Congress "  met  at  New  York.  That  great  change  in  the 
future  of  all  the  States  —  in  their  prospective  unity  as  an  English 
people,  with  the  first  principles  of  the  British  Constitution,  strength 
ening  State  Governments,  and  uniting  them  for  the  common  good 
—  the  capture  of  Louisburg  by  Gov.  Shirley  in  the  year  1745,  was 
due  to  the  action  of  Massachusetts  —  to  the  influence  of  Massachu 
setts  upon  the  sisterhood  of  Colonies.  "  The  Legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts,  after  some  hesitation,  resolved  on  the  expedition  by  a  ma 
jority  of  a  single  vote.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  sent  a  small 
supply  of  artillery  and  provisions.  New  England  alone  furnished 
men." 

The  grand  coalition  (for  so  it  may  be  called,)  which  delivered  the 
British  Colonies  forever  from  "  the  French  and  Indians,"  —  which 
developed  them  into  (almost)  independent  States,  while  it  combined 
them  (almost)  into  a  Sovereign  Unity,  was  due  to  the  action  of  Vir 
ginia  in  sending  Major  "Washington  "  to  insist  on  the  evacuation  of 
the  French  Posts  on  the  Ohio,"  and  in  their  raising  troops  to  assert 
their  rights ;  inspiring  thus  all  the  Colonies  with  a  sense  of  their 
separate  powers,  and  of  the  necessity  and  advantage  of  Union,  and 
giving  rise  to  the  quasi  Union  at  Albany  in  1754.  The  influence 
of  Virginia  through  a  long  course  of  exertions  and  deliverances, 
brought  the  French  war  to  a  prosperous  conclusion,  and  established 
the  British  race  and  influence  in  North  America ;  to  grow  how  soon, 
and  how  flourishing,  into  the  United  States !  The  resolutions  of 
Patrick  Henry  in  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  —  the  circular  letter 


73 

of  Massachusetts  proposing  to  call  a  central  Congress,  produced  the 
meeting  of  nine  Colonies  at  New  York,  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
rest,  on  the  2d  Tuesday  of  October,  1765.  The  proposition  of  Mas 
sachusetts  during  the  exile  of  its  Legislature  to  Salem,  for  a  Conti 
nental  Congress,  by  its  influence,  produced  the  General  Congress 
of  September,  1774,  and  the  Declaration  of  Rights,  claiming  all 
the  privileges  of  British  subjects  for  the  American  States  ;  and,  in 
truth,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  itself,  July  4,  1776,  and  its 
effective  and  triumphant  accomplishment.  And  finally,  the  propo 
sition  of  Virginia  for  the  Convention  of  1787,  influenced  all  the 
States  to  join  in  forming  the  Constitution,  which,  in  essence,  the 
course  of  events  had  wrought  out  —  in  completing  and  crowning  the 
work  which  had  grown  so  long  by  the  interaction  of  the  States  upon 
one  another,  in  the  perfect  unity  of  separated  Sovereignties,  indis- 
solubly  one,  and  yet  capable  of  indefinite  increase. 

This  history  of  the  influence  of  State  upon  State  must  not  be  dis 
missed  without  referring  also  to  the  individual  influence  which  is  at 
the  same  time  exemplified  for  the  encouragement  of  the  philanthro 
pist  and  patriarch.  Each  State  movement  was  but  the  movement, 
extended  and  multiplied,  of  patriotic  individuals,  acting  with  the 
Providence,  and  aided  by  the  Providence,  which  has  been  with 
these  States  for  good.  Especially  may  the  crowning  work,  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  its  favorable  operation,  be  ascribed 
not  to  the  central  authority  or  power  of  either  the  Congress  or  Con 
vention  of  1787 ;  but  in  how  great  a  degree  to  the  influence  of 
Washington,  and  other  leading  patriots,  in  forming  the  Constitution  ; 
and  then  to  the  illustrious  three  who  united  in  defending  and  com 
mending  the  instrument,  in  forming  which  two  of  them  had  part. 
The  essays  of  PiMius!  who  can  tell  their  influence  in  securing  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  its  favorable  operation  for  more 
than  three  score  years  ?  The  numbers  of  the  Federalist,  the  joint 
work  of  Jay,  Hamilton,  and  Madison ;  without  authority,  without 
power  —  ruled  without  ruling  —  still  rule,  and  will  not  cease  to  rule 
the  American  States. 

It  is  not  authority,  then,  nor  power  of  the  whole  over  the  parts, 
nor  overruling  force,  nor  the  weight  of  Section  against  Section,  to 
which  we  are  taught  to  look,  for  whatever,  through  this  wide  domain 
it  is  desirable  to  accomplish,  but  to  influence,  which  any  State  may 
exert  upon  many  States  ;  nay,  any  individual,  if  indeed  he  may  find 
7 


74 

and  bring  forth  wisdom  for  the  people.  The  whole  voice  of  Amer 
ican  history  demands  that  each  separate  State,  or  any  portion  of  the 
States,  shall  be  strong  over  the  rest  by  influence  alone.  Northern 
philanthropy  will  do  its  utmost  —  not  by  authority  where  no  author 
ity  exists  —  not  by  power  where  there  is  no  power —  not  by  an  im 
perative  balance  where  there  is  an  essential  equipoise ;  but  without 
authority  and  power,  and  notwithstanding  impotence,  whenever  it 
shall  unite  an  available  wisdom  to  fraternal  good-will. 

It  is  thus  with  moral  as  with  physical  forces.  We  take  account  of 
vis  inertia  as  well  as  vis:  of  impotence  as  well  as  power,  whether 
that  power  may  not  contend  idly  against  its  bounds,  or  that  it  may  be 
accumulated  and  applied  —  of  the  mountain  sides,  up  which  the  river 
cannot  run,  as  well  as  of  its  natural  flow  —  of  the  banks  which  protect 
the  valley,  as  well  as  of  the  stream  which  waters  it  and  bears  its 
products  on  its  bosom  —  of  the  rocky  barriers  which  hold  back 
internal  oceans,  and  preserve  half  a  continent  from  the  flood  of 
waters,  as  well  as  of  the  tremendous  torrent.  Nay,  instead  of  con 
tending  with  a  vis  inertice  which  we  cannot  annul,  we  make  a 
new  power  out  of  impotence  itself.  The  attempt  to  send  the 
current  up  the  mountain  side  would  be  in  vain ;  the  rocky  barrier 
removed,  there  would  be  only  desolation  and  ruin ;  but  the  dyke 
rightly  interposed,  and  behold  the  river  fertilizes  the  country,  or 
does  the  labor  of  thousands  of  men.  What  if  there  be  impotence 
in  the  United  States,  which  forbids  their  action  ?  Out  of  that  very 
impotence  may  come  the  most  effectual  strength.  Who  shall  tell  us 
that  when  the  impotence  is  acknowledged,  it  will  not  itself  prove 
the  very  reservoir  of  power  ?  that  when  we  shall  have  left  off  the 
vain  attempt  to  make  the  waters  run  up  the  hill,  we  may  not  find  a 
method  of  raising  and  directing  the  fertilizing  and  working  floods  ? 
Out  of  the  United  States  "  cannot,"  against  which  we  have  wrought 
and  struggled  in  vain,  what  a  "  can  "  might  grow,  working  wonders 
of  blessing  for  the  North  and  the  South. 


75 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    COMMON    TERRITORIES    AND    FREE    SOIL. 

WHAT  are  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  United  States,  as  to  the 
common  territories  ?  Ought  they  to  claim  them  ?  —  Can  they  se 
cure  them  by  a  sectional  vote  as  FREE  SOIL,  as  excluding  slavery 
forever  ?  In  answering  these  questions,  we  assert,  first,  the  right  of 
the  South  to  carry  their  property  and  labor,  in  the  forms  existing  in 
the  progress  and  establishment  of  our  political  Union,  into  their 
fair  proportion  of  whatever  territory  is,  or  may  be,  the  common  prop 
erty  of  all. 

Of  course  we  mean  their  political  right ;  their  right  relatively  to 
the  United  States ;  their  right  of  doing,  as  opposed  to  our  right  of 
hindering,  independently  of  the  moral  question,  in  regard  to  which 
they  are  responsible  to  God  and  not  to  the  United  States.  |  Political 
ly,  relatively,  so  far  as  our  right  of  control  is  concerned,  the  slave 
states  have  the  right,  not  only  to  retain  slavery  if  they  will,  but  to 
carry  it,  as  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  completed  union,  into  their 
equitable  proportion  of  any  territory  we  may  hold  in  common  ;  and 
those  States  must  be  held  accountable  if  they  take  advantage  of  a 
political  right  to  perpetuate  a  moral  wrong.  But  whatever  wrong 
they  may  choose  to  commit  within  the  old  and  settled  prescrip 
tion,  we  (the  United  States)  have  no  political  right  to  forbid  or 
prevent. 

The  right  thus  stated,  is  plain  on  the  general  principles  of  part 
nership.  The  rights  of  partnership  extend  to  all  property  held  or 
acquired  in  common,  and  do  not  leave  the  question  of  individual 
application  and  use  to  be  judged  and  settled  according  to  the  con 
science  or  will  of  the  stronger  party.  If  in  a  mercantile  partner 
ship  of  three,  one  of  the  parties  were  found  disposed  to  invest  his 
share  of  the  profits  in  the  slave  trade  itself,  the  other  two  would 
have  no  right  to  withhold  his  dividend.  Their  only  course  would  be 


76 

to  pay  over  to  their  erring  brother  his  own,  and  then,  as  individu 
als,  to  do  what  might  belong  to  them  as  individuals,  in  dissuading 
him  from  the  error.  In  our  political  partnership  we  have  an 
instance  in  point.  The  surplus  revenue  was  property  in  common, 
and  as  such,  belonged  equally  to  all  the  States.  Did  any  one 
ever  dream  that  the  surplus  revenue  was  liable  to  be  withheld  from 
the  South,  except  on  the  condition  that  none  of  it  should  be  employed 
in  the  purchase  of  slaves?  or  even  in  that  crying  abomination, 
the  purchase  of  families  torn  asunder  ?  What  if  the  distribution  of 
the  surplus  revenue  to  the  South  might  enable  the  purchase  of 
thousands  of  slaves  in  the  worst  form  of  the  traffic,  had  the  United 
States  any  right  to  withhold  the  southern  dividend  ? 

What  is  plain  in  a  mercantile  partnership,  what  is  plain  in  the 
partnership  of  the  States  as  to  funds  in  common,  is  not  less  plain  as 
to  territory  in  common.  In  the  absence  of  any  specific  provision, 
the  principle  would  hold,  that  being  possessed  or  acquired  in  com 
mon,  it  would  be  to  be  used  in  common,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  partners  at  the  time  of  the  compact,  and  continued  until  now. 
If  it  be  said  that  the  acquisition  of  territorial  property  was  not  con 
templated  in  the  rise  and  settlement  of  the  Union,  —  in  the  articles 
of  partnership,  —  it  may  be  replied  with  equal  truth,  neither  was  a 
surplus  revenue  contemplated ;  but  want  of  foresight  did  not  change 
the  principles  on  which  the  common  funds  were  to  be  distributed  — 
did  not  give  the  right  of  control  or  appropriation  to  the  free  States 
—  does  not  give  the  right  of  control  or  appropriation  of  territory 
any  more  than  of  funds.  In  either  case,  also,  how  plain  it  is  that 
if  the  emergency  had  been  foreseen  it  would  have  been  especially 
provided  for.  The  presumption  that  a  guaranty  of  rights  in  partner 
ship  would  have  been  required  if  the  claims  had  been  foreseen,  sets 
aside  those  claims  from  all  place  in  the  idea  of  the  original  contract. 

Besides  this  plain  application  of  general  principles,  there  is  not 
wanting  the  allowance  of  the  right  in  question  by  the  Constitution 
itself;  as  it  seems  to  us  expressed,  but  most  certainly  implied.  The 
requirement  of  the  Constitution,  "  that  nothing  in  it  shall  be  so  con 
strued  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  any  par 
ticular  State,"  must,  from  its  very  terms,  be  applicable  to  territorial 
as  well  as  other  possessions ;  to  surplus  lands  as  well  as  surplus 
revenues.  How  much  stronger,  then,  is  the  allowance  of  State 
claims  according  to  the  settled  usages  of  the  States  when  the  Con- 


77 

stitution  was  formed,  by  the  immediate  connection  of  the  caution 
ary  clause  with  the  very  article  which  asserts  the  "  power  of  Con 
gress  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  re 
specting  the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States."  The  northern  States  are  not  to  be  prejudiced,  individually 
or  collectively,  in  the  right  to  their  "  West,"  for  their  capital  and 
labor,  for  their  customs  and  institutions,  i.  e.,  without  slavery ;  and  if 
the  southern  States  were  the  stronger  in  votes  and  power,  they  would 
have  no  right  by  the  Constitution  to  introduce  slavery  into  the 
northern  territories.  In  like  manner,  the  southern  States  are  not  to 
be  prejudiced  in  the  right  to  their  capital  and  labor,  for  their  cus 
toms  and  institutions,  existing  when  the  Constitution  was  formed, 
i.  e.,  with  slavery.  So  far  as  political  rights  are  concerned  ;  so  far 
as  regards  the  relations  of  each  separate  State  to  the  United  States, 
as  a  central  sovereignty  under  the  Constitution,  the  way  must  be 
considered  equally  open  for  the  removal  westward  of  capital  and 
labor ;  for  the  North  without,  for  the  South  with,  slavery. 

And  this  right  is  not  asserted  merely  in  behalf  of  the  masters  ;  it 
is  claimed  also  for  the  slaves.  We  have  something  to  propose  for 
them  better,  as  we  think,  than  slavery  as  it  is  ;  but  whatever  is  pro 
posed,  whether  amelioration  or  emancipation,  we  insist  that  the  way 
shall  be  open  for  them  to  live  by  their  labor ;  and  that  the  territo 
rial  scope  on  which  both  northern  and  southern  labor  have  thriven 
hitherto  shall  not  be  denied  to  the  slaves  and  the  African  race. 
They  have  the  right  to  claim  that  their  way  of  support  shall  not 
be  shut  against  them  —  that  they  shall  not  be  denied  the  best  oppor 
tunities  of  profitable  toil.  If,  as  is  alleged,  slave  labor  has,  become 
unprofitable  in  any  of  the  States,  then  have  the  slaves  themselves 
an  interest  in  other  fields  where  labor  may  be  profitable  —  where 
they  may  live  by  their  labor. 

2.  But  besides  the  right  of  the  South,  we  assert  further,  the  im 
potence  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  any  sectional  prohibition  of 
the  North  against  the  South.  If  we  will  not  allow  the  political 
right  of  the  South  to  their  equitable  share  of  the  common  territory, 
and  to  its  unrestricted  use,  we  have  then  to  find  that  we  cannot  set 
it  aside.  Whatever  the  United  States  may  undertake  by  northern 
preponderance  against  the  political  rights  of  the  South,  must  fail, 
for  the  want  of  a  sufficient  northern  preponderance  —  must  fail  from 
the  equilibrium  of  forces.  As  impotent  as  we  should  be  to  regulate 
7* 


78 

or  abolish  slavery  in  the  States,  so  impotent  are  we  to  prevent  its 
removal  to  the  southern  "  West."  If  we  had  the  right  as  partners 
—•if  we  had  the  constitutional  authority,  we  have  not  the  decisive 
power.  The  great  Overruler  has  so  overruled  that  we  cannot  rule 
—  has  so  evenly  balanced  us  that  we  cannot  turn  the  scale. 

No  doubt  this  assertion,  this  indispensable  admission,  may  be 
unpalatable,  if  indeed  we  wish  to  overrule;  no  doubt  it  may  be 
questioned,  because  it  is  unpalatable.  But  is  not  the  admission 
indispensable  ?  It  may  seem  easy,  at  first  thought,  to  make  out  a 
case  in  favor  of  the  North,  strong  in  its  homogeneous  and  active 
population,  its  majorities  attained  in  the  house  of  representatives, 
and  at  length  in  the  senate  also,  and  we  may  over-hastily  say  we 
can: — the  northern  section  has  such  preponderance  that  it  can 
enforce  a  sectional  law  excluding  the  South  from  territories  other 
wise  open ;  i.  e.  with  slavery  as  existing  at  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution. 

Let  it  be  supposed,  then,  that  there  are  territories  otherwise  open 
to  slavery,  and  that  we  carry  our  northern  will  against  the  will  of  the 
South  ;  that  the  grand  question  absorbing  all  other  questions,  is  at 
length  decided  according  to  the  will  of  the  North,  and  that  FREE 
SOIL  is  decreed  for  all  present  and  future  territory.  Will  any 
man  think  that  the  question  would  thereby  be  decided  ?  —  that  that 
decree  could  stand  ?  Would  the  question  be  settled  forever  by  that 
minute  majority  which  alone  it  is  possible  to  suppose  ?  —  by  that 
minute  preponderance  which  turned  the  scale  ?  What  if  there  be  a 
majority  in  the  house  ?  —  what  if  there  has  come  to  be  a  majority 
in  the  senate  also,  and  the  equilibrium  hitherto  preserved  be 
technically  destroyed  ?  —  does  that  prevent  the  substantial  equili 
brium  which  the  great  Overruler  has  put  beyond  and  above  the 
decrees  of  man  ?  Does  that  prevent  the  equipoise  still  secured  by 
compounded  if  not  simple  "  ratios  ?  "  Does  that  destroy  the  weight 
which  the  South  possesses  in  its  numbers  and  advantages  united  ? 
In  that  substantial  equilibrium  which  Providence  has  settled,  can 
there  be  found  a  settled  and  decisive  preponderance  ?  Will  not, 
must  not  such  a  vote  as  we  have  supposed  be  speedily  reversed,  or 
become  a  dead  letter  by  being  unenforced  ?  —  still  showing  in  the 
future  that  equilibrium  cannot  overbalance. 

But  suppose  the  attempt  to  enforce  as  earnest,  as  determined,  as 
rigid  as  to  enact  the  sectional  law  ;  while  yet  the  South  would  not 


79 

obey  the  law  without  enforcement.  How  long  would  the  North 
persist  against  the  South  ?  How  long  carry  on  the  almost  equal 
struggle,  before  it  would  learn  the  lesson  of  equal  forces  on  which 
we  now  insist  ?  Or,  if  the  North  should  persist,  determinedly,  vio 
lently,  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  to  carry  a  measure  which  God  has 
given  them  no  right  or  power  to  carry,  how  long  before  the  South, 
almost  if  not  quite  equal  to  the  North,  would  be  reduced  to  that 
quiet  submission  which  would  settle  the  question  ?  —  how  long  before 
they  would  become  dependants  instead  of  partners, —  subject  States 
instead  of  coequal  sovereignties,  —  before  sectional  preponderance 
would  take  the  place  of  sectional  equilibrium  ?  Rather,  how  long 
would  it  be  before  the  wisdom  demanded  by  the  actual  equilibrium 
(not  compromise,  but  conformity  to  an  overruling  Providence) 
would  rise,  and  close  the  useless,  baneful  strife  ? 

Assuredly,  no  decree  of  the  United  States  can  be  permanent, 
which  is  absolutely  sectional,  —  which  is  made  by  a  casual  prepon 
derance,  where,  in  the  main,  the  balances  are  even.  The  abolition 
of  the  slave  trade  in  1808,  was  not  carried  against  the  South  and 
over  the  South,  but  with  and  for  the  South,  and  therefore  it  has 
been  permanent  and  abiding. 

This  impossibility  of  decisive  action  of  Section  against  Section, 
is  no  doubt  as  applicable  to  any  attempts  of  the  South  against  the 
North,  as  of  the  North  against  the  South.  If  the  North  has  to 
learn  that  it  cannot  work  its  sectional  will  against  the  unalterable 
principles  of  equipoise,  so  also  has  the  South.  The  rendition  of 
fugitive  slaves  was  settled  by  the  Constitution,  thus  far  by  the  con 
sent  of  the  North,  that  those  "  held  to  labor  "  should  not  be  "  dis 
charged,"  but  "  delivered  up  on  the  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
labor  might  be  due,"  and  no  doubt  this  settlement  may  remain 
fixed,  so  long  as  the  South  shall  insist  only  on  the  delivery,  on 
proof,  before  and  by  the  proper  authorities.  But  suppose  the  South 
to  require  more,  —  action  without  proof —  "  delivery  "  before  deci 
sion  that  "  service  and  labor  were  due,"  and  the  cooperation  of  citi 
zens,  under  severe  penalties,  against  the  general  will  and  feeling  of 
the  North  ;  can  such  a  sectional  law  be  enforced  ?  Can  it  be  other 
than  a  dead  letter,  or  the  occasion  of  baneful,  endless  contention  for 
the  want  of  any  sufficient  southern  preponderance  ? 

"What,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  to  be  the  issue,  as  it  regards 
southern  institutions  and  all  the  interests  of  property  connected 


80 

therewith  ?  Is  mere  equipoise  to  be  as  fatal  as  northern  prepon 
derance  ?  Is  southern  "  property  "  to  become  worthless  by  southern 
impotence,  in  the  even-balanced  scale  ?  By  no  means :  impo 
tence  acknowledged,  new  powers  may  arise  out  of  that  very  impo 
tence  itself.  There  is  a  better  "  cordon  "  by  which  slave  property 
may  be  at  once  retained  and  enhanced,  than  any  Fugitive  Slave 
law,  —  needing  no  posse  comitatus,  no  fines,  imprisonments,  or  blood. 
There  is  a  method,  dimly  seen  in  the  confusion  of  the  times,  in 
which  the  North  and  the  South  may  earnestly  concur  —  a  Reme 
dial  Code,  —  an  ameliorated  slavery,  under  which  those  "  held  to 
labor  "  shall  not  wish  to  escape,  and  the  northern  philanthropist 
shall  have  no  wish  to  tempt  or  aid ;  making  the  "  cordon "  of 
comfortable  livelihood,  unbroken  families,  and  happy  homes.  The 
time  may  come  when  the  "  being  held  to  service  "  shah1  be  considered 
well  compensated  by  the  rations  and  privileges  which  are  its  proper 
counterpart ;  when  free  blacks  themselves  will  desire  the  position 
of  slaves  rather  than  freemen.  So  long  as  their  condition  must  be 
servile  and  dependent,  the  well-endowed  slave  will  not  think  him 
self  below  but  above  the  ill-provided  freeman. 

3.  An  absolute  free  soil  is  not  the  desideratum  for  southwestern 
territory  ;  i.  e.,  for  Africans  in  the  actual  southern  proportions  to 
the  European  race.  Without  political  right,  without  decisive  and 
overruling  power,  we  could  not  establish  an  absolute  free  soil  if  we 
would.  What  we  now  assert  is,  we  would  not  if  we  could. 

This  assertion  is  not  made  against  but  for  the  African  race ;  not 
to  prevent,  but  to  secure  their  well-being.  We  have  not  claimed 
free  soil  for  the  slave  States  themselves,  and  we  cannot,  therefore, 
for  any  territories  whose  ratio  of  races  is  to  be  the  same.  No 
doubt  the  claim  of  the  African  race  to  the  "  pursuit  of  happiness  " 
is  equal  to  that  of  the  European  ;  but  in  so  far  as  that  claim  is  on 
us.  it  is  that  we  should  help  and  not  hinder  that  pursuit.  In  so  far 
as  depends  on  us,  they  are  not  to  be  endowed  with  u  too  free  a  free 
dom,"  lest  they  be  thereby  "  less  free,"  and  some  of  their  present 
bonds  are  to  be  retained,  if  they  may  thereby  be  "  more  free." 

Free  Soil,  indeed  !  The  two  races  belting  the  continent  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  all  States  and  all  territories  in  their 
present  actual  Southern  proportions ;  the  European,  with  all  the 
advantages  of  skill  and  capital,  and  crowding  labor,  too ;  the  Afri 
can  advanced,  indeed,  but  how  little,  comparatively,  beyond  the 


81 

barbarism  of  his  fathers  and  his  cotemporaries  in  Africa ;  without 
skill,  and  enterprise,  and  energy,  and  capital,  and  amidst  the  crowd 
ing  laborers  of  Europe  —  will  any  law  of  free  soil  make  free  soil  to 
the  African  race  ?  Will  it  assure  the  protection  and  direction  of 
capital  in  aid  of  African  labor,  or  of  African  labor  in  aid  of  capi 
tal  ?  May  it  not  hinder  and  obstruct,  in  place  of  helping  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness  ?  If  by  free  soil  be  intended  an  American  or 
even  a  British  freedom ;  the  whole  history  and  condition  of  the  Afri 
can  race,  their  aboriginal  barbarism,  and  their  present  state  and 
relations,  may  be  supposed  to  cry  out  against  it.  Bonds  are  need 
ful  to  make  free.  Let  all  good  bonds  be  retained,  whether  on  the 
slave  or  the  master ;  let  bad  bonds  only  be  loosed.  No  matter  for 
the  name.  Free  soil,  in  name,  cannot  make  the  thing,  the  substance, 
the  reality.  Slavery,  with  its  bad  bonds  loosed,  its  good  bonds 
retained,  cannot  prevent  the  well-being  of  the  race.  No  matter  for 
the  name.  Let  it  be  slavery  ameliorated,  or  freedom  restricted  up 
to  the  truest  well-being  of  capital  and  labor,  of  European  and  Afri 
can,  and  then  the  two  races  may  flow  together  in  their  southern 
proportions,  over  the  southern  "  West,"  with  equal  opportunity  for 
the  "  pursuit  of  happiness." 

This  claim  for  an  ameliorated  slavery,  or  a  restricted  freedom  in 
the  Territories,  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  the  demand  for  free 
soil  is  indeed  in  behalf  of  the  African  race,  and  not  against  them ; 
that  it  is  not  the  ban  of  exclusion  from  the  climates  and  employ 
ments  to  which  their  long  settlement  in  the  New  World  has  given 
them  a  title.  But  is  it  so  ?  or  do  the  advocates  of  free  soil  intend 
the  boon  for  the  European  alone,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  African  ? 
Is  it  in  truth  intended  to  admit  the  negro  in  southern  proportions, 
with  the  full  franchises  of  the  North  ?  And  does  this  united  cry 
prove  its  sincerity,  by  the  readiness  of  the  States  from  which  it 
comes  to  make  their  own  soil  free?  Or  is  there  a  common  and 
universal  consent,  that  in  the  States,  free  soil  in  southern  ratios 
cannot,  must  not  be  admitted  ?  What  answer  is  made  by  the  free 
States  themselves,  amidst  their  loudest  cries,  their  most  determined 
action  for  free  soil  ?  Are  they  ready  to  receive  a  free  African  pop 
ulation,  in  the  proportion  of  one  third  or  one  half,  to  an  equal  share 
of  social,  civil,  and  political  rights  ?  Is  New  York  ?  Is  Pennsylva 
nia  ?  Is  Ohio  ?  Indiana  ?  Illinois  ?  Michigan  ?  Are  they  ready 
to  share  their  several  States  with  the  African  race  in  southern 


proportions  ?  If  the  question  were  now  before  their  own  legisla 
tures,  of  making  these  States  free  soil,  would  they  open  their  doors 
gladly  for  one  third  or  one  half  of  their  present  population  to  go 
out,  and  for  an  equal  number  of  the  African  race  to  come  in  as  fel 
low  citizens  and  voters,  as  "the  sovereign  people"  equally  with 
themselves  ?  On  the  other  hand  who  does  not  know,  that  if  there 
were  such  a  population  ready  to  rush  in,  laws  would  be  instantly 
made  to  check  the  immigration,  and  to  limit  the  freedom  of  the 
immigrants?  Massachusetts  herself,  with  her  full  African  fran 
chise,  her  free  soil  for  her  eight  thousand  of  African  blood,  —  would 
she  be  "  free  soil "  if  the  prospect  were  that  in  ten  years  one  third  or 
one  half  of  her  population  would  be  free  negroes,  having,  like  the 
one  hundredth  now,  their  equal  share  in  giving  direction  to  her 
whole  condition ;  to  her  industry,  and  education,  and  morals,  and 
religion  ?  Would  Massachusetts  be  free  soil  with  this  prospect 
before  her  ?  Would  her  legislature  be  agreed  in  continuing  and 
establishing  free  soil.  And  if  the  question  before  Congress  could 
involve  the  destinies  of  Massachusetts,  and  were  about  to  introduce 
into  her  bosom  the  southern  proportion  of  the  African  race,  making 
one  third,  or  one  half,  instead  of  one  hundredth,  would  her  course 
in  Congress  still  be  as  hitherto  ?  Would  her  delegation  vote  for 
an  absolute  free  soil  ?  Would  her  legislature  so  instruct  and  advise 
her  representatives  and  senators  ? 

In  truth,  whatever  lapse  of  sound  judgment  there  may  be  in  the 
heat  of  controversy,  and  in  regard  to  others  and  the  distant,  it  may 
be  asserted  as  the  sense  of  the  country,  —  of  the  North  as  well  as 
the  South,  —  that  the  African  race,  inheriting  barbarism,  and  but 
partially  civilized ;  comparatively  without  capital  and  skill,  and  not 
homogeneous  with  the  leading  race,  would  not,  in  large  proportions, 
promot-e  the  prosperity  of  a  State,  or  even  of  themselves,  as  coequal 
citizens ;  that  both  for  their  own  good  and  the  good  of  the  whole 
people,  they  need  to  be  legislated  for,  rather  than  to  be  co-legisla 
tors.  The  sense  of  the  North  itself  is  against  free  soil.  The  sense 
of  Massachusetts  is  against  free  soil.  We  do  not  complain  at  the 
reluctance  of  the  North  to  a  large  free  African  population,  —  to 
that  sense  of  the  necessities  of  the  case  which  has  ruled  hitherto, 
and  would  rule  with  still  more  vigilance  in  view  of  any  large  in 
crease.  All  that  we  require  is,  that  all  restriction  shall  wisely  seek 
the  well-being  of  both  classes  of  the  people,  and  that  there  shall  be 


83 

a  corresponding  mitigation  of  the  northern  claim  for  southern  free 
soil :  that  it  shall  be  temperate,  and  regulated  by  the  general  sense 
which  long  experience  has  produced,  and  that  an  ameliorated  slavery 
or  a  restricted  freedom  shall  be  allowed,  not  as  the  white  man's 
privilege  of  oppression,  but  as  the  black  man's  boon  —  the  true 
method  of  his  well-being. 

The  points,  whether  of  amelioration  or  restriction,  cannot  now  be 
indicated.  Keeping  in  view  the  general  idea  of  "  good  bonds  re 
tained  and  bad  bonds  loosed,"  the  way  is  open  for  northern  philan 
thropists  and  southern  patriarchs  to  unite  in  the  high  work  of  pro 
moting  the  well-being  of  both  classes  and  of  the  whole  people. 
Instead  of  excluding  the  Africans  of  the  South  from  the  southern 
"  West,"  hemming  them  within  their  present  boundaries,  for  fear 
of  them  as  free  citizens  on  the  one  hand,  or  dread  of  slavery  as 
it  is  on  the  other ;  let  patriarchs  and  philanthropists  inquire 
whether  there  are  not  principles  of  justice  and  mercy,  in  which 
the  North  and  the  South  can  agree ;  whether  a  Territorial  Com 
mission,  composed  of  the  sages  and  patriots  of  both  sections,  might 
not  unite  with  reference  to  any  southern  territory,  in  measures  of 
advantage  to  both  races  and  to  the  whole  country ;  might  not  speed 
the  natural  flow  of  both  races  into  the  great  southern  "  West,"  with 
only  this  condition,  that  it  "  shall  carry  no  elements  of  misery 
which  a  wise  benevolence  can  cast  off,"  and  all  elements  of  well- 
being  which  a  wise  benevolence  can  carry. 

Whatever  might  be  the  specific  work  of  such  a  Commission,  the 
United  States  would  have  the  same  opportunity  of  influence  which 
we  have  suggested  with  reference  to  an  experiment  by  any  State, 
with  some  advantages.  The  vain  strife  of  equal  sections  laid  aside, 
and  the  sages  and  patriots  of  both  sections  united  in  the  simple 
attempt  to  aid  the  "  pursuit  of  happiness  "  by  both  races,  accord 
ing  to  their  several  conditions  and  character,  a  general  welcome 
would  be  prepared  for  any  well-tried  and  well-proved  method,  and 
that  method  might  be  aided  and  hastened  by  the  liberality  of  the 
United  States.  If  the  ameliorations  proposed  should  be  thought  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  slaveholders,  the  United  States  are  compe 
tent  to  give  donations  in  land  to  those  who  may  adopt  their  propo 
sals  in  regard  to  an  experimental  territory.  Who  shall  tell  us 
that  when  the  North  and  the  South  shall  unite  in  what  they  can 
do,  that  they  will  not  then  be  able  to  do  much  ;  that  out  of  impos- 


84 

sibility  of  action  section  against  section,  there  may  not  proceed 
action  by  agreement  for  the  highest  well-being  of  the  African  race, 
in  and  with  the  highest  well-being  of  the  whole  people  ?  An  experi 
mental  territory,  encouraged  by  a  "  land  bounty,"  might  be  found 
the  most  prosperous  of  territories,  if  its  only  bonds  upon  master 
and  servant  were  those  which  make  "  more  free  ; "  might  first 
relieve  the  South  of  any  surplus  African  population,  and  then,  re 
acting  on  the  sources  from  which  it  proceeded,  might  produce  and 
secure  the  well-being  of  the  sovereign  States  themselves,  in  the 
manner  best  suited  to  the  condition  and  character  of  both  classes 
of  their  people. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  better  than  by  referring  to  the  oft- 
repeated  phrase,  prominent  in  the  discussion  of  the  territorial  ques 
tion,  and  assumed  as  deciding  in  favor  of  Free  Soil,  in  the  popular 
sense  of  that  term  —  "  There  is  a  higher  law  than  the  Constitution 
regulating  our  authority  over  the  public  domain."  Undoubtedly 
there  is.  Nothing  could  be  more  false  and  fatal  than  the  denial 
of  the  "  higher  law,"  if  thereby  be  meant,  that  the  laws  of  Heaven 
may  be  transgressed  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  earth ;  that  nations 
may  rightfully  do  wrong,  under  their  own  special  provisions  for 
wrong-doing.  True !  a  thousand  times  true.  There  is  a  higher 
law  than  the  Constitution.  All  honor  to  the  senator  who  uttered 
and  urged  a  principle  so  high  and  holy  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  May  it  never  be  forgotten  or  disobeyed  ! 

But  with  reference  to  the  legislation  to  which  it  was  applied  by  the 
distinguished  senator,  what  if  the  higher  law  forbid,  instead  of  com 
manding  it  ?  What  if  the  great  Overruler  has  given  no  political  right 
to  the  United  States,  to  legislate  in  the  matter  at  all ;  and  has,  besides, 
so  evenly  balanced  them,  section  against  section,  that  they  could  not 
use  the  right  if  it  had  been  given  ?  What  if  the  higher  law  so  ruled 
in  the  birth,  growth,  and  union  of  these  States,  as  to  give  certain 
rights  to  the  separate  States,  and  to  withhold  them  from  the  United 
States ;  and  so  ordered  sectional  arrangements  as  to  produce  a  sub 
stantial  equilibrium  between  the  North  and  the  South,  proved  in  every 
attempt  to  disturb  the  balance  for  more  than  sixty  years  ?  Surely 
the  higher  law  hitherto  has  restrained  authority,  forbidden  power 
u  over  the  domain ; "  has  set  limits  which  could  not  be  passed, 
leaving  free  scope  only  to  whatever  wisdom  and  good  will. 

In  like  manner  there  is,  undoubtedly,  a  higher  law  than  the  law 


85 

of  nations.  And  yet  that  "higher  law,"  instead  of  making  every 
nation's  duties  the  duties  of  every  other  nation,  or  the  duties  of  the 
parts  the  common  duties  of  the  whole,  is  found  to  restrict  authority 
and  power  to  each  one's  appropriate  domain,  as  the  great  Overruler 
has  distributed  them.  Thus,  the  United  States,  France,  Russia, 
have  nothing  to  forbid  and  nothing  to  allow  in  regard  to  miserable 
Ireland ;  nothing  to  do  in  its  behalf,  save  only  what  no  "  law  of 
nations,"  no  "  balance  of  power  "  can  forbid  or  hinder,  —  the  work 
of  heavenly  charity. 

And  this  work  of  heavenly  charity,  —  free  to  every  nation  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  —  is  not  restrained  from  any  part  of  our  beloved 
country,  by  any  barriers  which  Heaven  has  ordained.  There  is  free 
scope,  notwithstanding ;  nay,  there  is  free  scope,  thereby,  for  the 
utmost  wisdom  and  good  will.  True,  there  is  a  law  higher  than 
the  Constitution,  ruling  the  Constitution  itself,  withholding  as  well 
as  giving  political  rights,  withholding  as  well  as  giving  political 
power,  forbidding  sectional  overruling  as  surely  as  beach  and  rock 
forbid  the  ocean  to  overrule  the  land,  and  as  surely  with  kind 
and  merciful  intent.  Do  not  tell  us  that  a  "  higher  law  "  requires 
the  sea  to  go  farther  than  to  its  appointed  bars  and  doors,  its 
"  proud  waves,"  not  to  be  stayed,  so  that  it  may  flood  the  world 
with  good.  Rather  let  the  sea  obey  the  law  which  restrains  it,  and 
remain  shut  up  in  its  "  decreed  place,"  for  then  only  shall  it  be  the 
never-failing  source  of  dew,  and  rain,  and  fountain,  and  river,  and 
lake,  for  a  blessing  to  all  people  and  all  times. 
8 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

SUGGESTIONS    FOR   A   REMEDIAL    CODE. 

KEEPING  in  view  the  principles  illustrated  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  the  leading  points  of  a  REMEDIAL  CODE  are  suggested 
in  the  following  sections,  in  their  bearing  upon  the  well-being  of 
both  masters  and  slaves.  This  is  done,  not  in  the  view  of  preparing 
them  for  freedom,  —  of  any  "  apprenticeship,"  whether  shorter  or 
longer,  —  but  on  the  supposition  of  a  continued  and  abiding  relation, 
in  the  full  assurance  that  the  evils  and  woes  of  slavery  are  not  of 
its  essence,  and  that  its  advantages  and  blessings  may  therefore  be 
retained  and  cherished  by  a  Christian  State. 

The  suggestions  for  a  remedial  Code  are  made  with  great  diffi 
dence.  The  writer  is  deeply  sensible  how  difficult  it  must  prove  to 
match  the  peculiarities  of  condition  and  relation,  of  race,  habit,  and 
position;  and  especially  how  imperfect  his  own  suggestions  are 
likely  to  be  without  the  intimate  and  special  knowledge  which  he 
does  not  possess.  And  yet  he  makes  them  earnestly  and  hopefully, 
believing  that  the  most  imperfect  attempt  in  the  right  line  is  better 
than  mere  "  pro-slavery,"  or  mere  "  anti-slavery,"  and  even  that 
diffident  suggestions  may  prove  better  than  any  confident  and  prema 
ture  completeness. 

The  great  principles  of  a  Remedial  Code  are  sufficiently  plain. 
They  dawn  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Pitt,  anticipating  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade  :  "  They  "  (the  slaves)  "  might  be  relieved  from 
every  thing  harsh  and  severe,  and  put  under  the  protection  of  the 
law ; "  and  of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  "  Under  the  protection  of  the  law  is 
in  fact  to  be  a  freeman."  Indeed  they  appear  again  and  again,  and 
still  more  and  more  clearly,  in  propositions  and  recommendations 
from  the  slaveholding  States  themselves,  giving  assurance  that 
kindly  suggestions  from  whatever  quarter  will  not  be  in  vain,  how 
ever  imperfect  they  may  be.  Here,  as  every  where,  we  must  be- 


87 

gin  in  order  to  learn,  —  experience  must  correct  unavoidable  errors, 
and  unfold  and  ripen  the  methods  which  shall  grow  into  practicable 
rules.  The  first  thing  is  to  take  the  right  direction,  to  aim  at  the 
right  end.  This  done,  every  step  will  be  progressive  and  advanta 
geous. 

SECTION  I. 

Mutual  Bonds  of  Labor  and  Capital. 

The  present  relations  of  master  and  slave,  as  it  respects  labor 
and  maintenance,  require  to  be  retained.  Fixed  providentially 
together  by  whatever  fault  of  their  predecessors,  they  are  actually 
in  a  state  of  mutual  dependence,  —  the  masters  for  labor,  and  the 
slaves  for  provision ;  and  bonds  upon  both  parties  are  required  for 
the  well-being  of  both ;  —  not  less  of  the  slave  than  the  master,  not 
less  of  the  master  than  the  slave ;  not  less  of  those  depending  on 
labor  paid  for  by  capital,  than  of  the  capitalists  themselves.  Those 
are  good  bonds  which  require  the  master  to  provide  for  those 
dependent  on  him  fbr  their  daily  maintenance,  and  for  their  support 
in  infancy,  sickness,  and  old  age,  —  which  enslave  him  to  his  slaves ; 
and  those  are  good  bonds,  also,  which  require  for  the  master  the 
labor  which  alone  can  enable  him  to  make  this  constant  and  per 
manent  provision  —  which  enslave  them  to  their  master.  In  the 
existing  condition  of  the  parties,  there  must  needs  be  "  rations  " 
and  securities  for  the  laborers  and  their  natural  dependents, — 
and  labor,  also,  in  order  to  rations  and  securities.  The  masters 
must  be  masters  still;  must  furnish  employment,  must  require 
labor,  that  they  may  provide  for  want.  The  slaves  must  be  slaves 
still,  in  so  far  as  to  render  that  labor  by  which  alone  want  can  be 
supplied.  "  The  being  held  to  labor,"  and  the  necessary  correla 
tive,  the  being  held  to  maintain  labor,  are  the  essential  elements  of 
slavery,  and  whatever  evils  and  disabilities  are  not  indispensable  to 
this,  are  not  of  its  essence  ;  are  excrescences  which  humanity  and 
Christianity  are  required  to  remove  with  all  possible  care  and 
diligence. 

The  bonds  to  labor  and  to  maintain  labor,  thus  allowed  and 
required,  were,  as  we  have  asserted,  inconsiderately  removed  in 
Europe,  and  the  "masses"  have  suffered  for  centuries,  from  an 
inconsiderate  and  unprovided  freedom  to  the  serfs.  They  are  even 


88 

more  needful  to  be  retained  here  with  a  race  not  homogeneous,  and 
inheriting  more  barbarism,  indolence,  and  improvidence.* 

In  retaining  the  bonds  to  labor  and  provision,  there  must  needs 
be  a  benevolent  wisdom.  The  relations  of  labor  and  provision  must 
be  carefully  defined,  and  the  best  interests  of  master  and  slave 
equally  secured.  Whatever  has  been  found  to  be  the  amount  of 
labor  needful  to  enable  the  master  to  maintain  the  slave,  and  the 
"rations"  and  privileges  to  correspond,  must  be  defined.  The 
masters  are  entitled  to  the  use  of  their  capital,  and  to  some  due 
return  for  their  supervision  and  direction,  as  truly  as  the  capitalists 
of  the  North,  both  for  themselves  and  that  they  may  be  able  to 
furnish  to  the  slaves  an  available  labor.  The  slaves  are  entitled  to 
such  avails  as  labor  can  permanently  secure.  "  The  laborer  is 
worthy  of  his  hire,"  and  must  and  should  be  sustained  by  his 
labor. 

As  to  the  amount  to  be  furnished  by  the  employer,  there  has 
been  found  in  the  freest  States  no  absolute  rule,  and  wages  are 
necessarily  left  to  take  their  natural  course :  falling  when  they 
rise  so  high  that  capital  is  compelled  to  withdraw  employment, 
and  rising  when  prosperous  capital  seeks  to  increase  the  number 
of  its  laborers.  Under  the  system  of  slavery,  the  rightful  "  hire  " 
must  be  for  substance  on  the  same  principle,  viz.,  what  capital  can 
'Day.  The  amount  of  "  rations  "  and  privileges  must  be  such  that 
the  masters  can  furnish  them,  instead  of  being  compelled  to  cut 
them  off  altogether  or  in  part ;  and  such,  also,  as  to  give  fair 
encouragement  of  their  being  used  to  good  and  useful  purposes. 

Whatever  other  legislation  may  be  needed  in  regard  to  capital 
and  labor,  this  at  least  is  required,  viz.,  That  the  substitution  of  free 
for  slave  labor  shall  be  discountenanced  and  even  disallowed.  The 
free  inhabitants  of  the  slave  States  are  not,  of  course,  to  be  hindered 
from  labor.  But  there  must  be  no  general  admission  of  immigrant 
labor,  and  if  it  threaten  large  increase,  it  must  be  forbidden.  Slave 
labor  must  be  protected.  Those  who  assert  that  slavery  is  to  be 
abolished  by  substituting  free  laborers  from  Europe  and  Asia,  know 
not  what  they  say.  Granted  that  free  labor  would  be  more  profita 
ble  than  slave  labor,  and  that  the  substitution  of  it  would  result  in 
the  voluntary  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  then  must  the  State  inter- 

*  See  Chapter  VI. 


89 

pose,  and  forbid  a  change  which  would  take  the  bread  from  the 
mouth  of  one  third  or  one  half  of  its  people  ;  which  would  give  but 
the  franchise  of  want  and  misery.  The  masters  must  not  have 
power  to  substitute  emigrant  labor,  to  the  loss  and  damage  of  the 
slaves,  whatever  direct  advantage  may  tempt  to  the  injustice.*  Alas 
for  "  Africa  in  America,"  if  they  do  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  labor  must  be  secured  to  the  masters  from 
the  slaves.  The  masters  must  have  the  right  to  require  labor  in 
return  for  the  rations  and  securities  which  can  be  provided  by  labor 
alone.  The  "  hire  "  has  its  claim  upon  the  laborer.  If  the  mas 
ter's  powers  have  not  been  properly  defined  and  checked  hitherto, 
or  if  custom  has  permitted  abuses  of  those  powers,  let  whatever 
needful  provisions  be  made  for  the  future ;  but  let  not  their  right 
ful  claim  be  denied  or  made  vain  ;  let  not  the  system  which  "  holds 
to  labor  "  be  hindered  or  broken  up.  Let  it  remain,  as  the  best 
means  of  providing  for  want,  and  the  best  preventive  against  idle 
ness,  improvidence,  and  vagrancy. 

But  bonds  cannot  be  retained  unless  they  may  be  enforced.  It 
belongs,  therefore,  to  a  Remedial  Code  to  retain  and  improve  meth 
ods  of  enforcement,  whether  of  "  rations  "  and  privileges  on  the  part 
of  the  masters,  or  of  labor  on  the  part  of  the  slaves. 

First,  as  to  the  masters.  So  far  as  custom  long  settled  and  cir 
cumstances  secure  their  due  care  of  their  slaves,  it  is  well.  But 
so  far  as  needful,  that  care  must  be  secured  by  new  legislation,  and 

*  Says  Mr.  Sawtelle,  writing  from  New  Orleans,  April,  1847,  (see  New  York 
Observer,  July  24,)  "  The  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  the  Irish  and 
Germans  that  have  poured  in  here  from  the  Old  World,  and  which  are  seen 
every  where  rolling  cotton  bales  or  hogsheads  of  sugar,  driving  hacks  and 
drays,  and  firing  their  engines,  and  actually  supplanting  the  blacks  in  many 
departments  of  labor,  are  settling  the  question  beyond  all  controversy,  that  sla 
very  is  not  only  an  unnecessary  evil  but  a  pecuniary  curse."  "  I  can  make 
more  money  off  my  plantation,"  says  one  of  the  largest  sugar  planters  in 
Louisiana,  "  by  cutting  it  into  small  farms,  erecting  little  cottages,  and  rent 
ing  them  to  these  families  of  emigrants,  they  bringing  to  my  sugar  house 
so  much  cane  annually  for  rent,  thus  relieving  me  from  all  the  vexations, 
responsibilities,  and  expenses  of  providing  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  slaves  that 
must  be  fed,  clothed,  and  taken  care  of  when  sick,  whether  the  crops  fail  or 
not ;  and  the  time  is  not  far  off  when  the  experiment  will  be  made  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  every  soxithern  man  ;  thereby  rendering  slaves  a  pecu 
niary  burden  too  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  which  must  be  thrown  off." 
8* 


90 

must  be  enforced  by  the  executive  powers  of  the  State ;  and  so 
much  the  more  decidedly  as  the  slaves  are  less  able  to  secure  their 
own  rights.  Some  officer  from  among  the  slaves  may  be  the 
channel  of  complaint,  and  some  court  of  redress  may  issue  the 
complaint  without  cost  to  the  slave ;  save  where  his  proceeding 
shall  have  been  merely  vexatious  and  causeless.  The  masters,  if 
needful,  may  be  compelled  to  furnish  suitable  rations  and  privileges. 

As  to  the  slaves,  also,  there  must  needs  be  means  and  methods  of 
enforcement.  In  every  country,  in  the  freest  States,  it  is  right 
that  labor  should  be  enforced.  The  State,  responsible  to  provide 
for  pauperism,  may  take  measures  to  prevent  it ;  may  insist  on  some 
honest  method  of  supplying  the  wants  of  the  people ;  may  correct 
as  well  as  prevent,  may  prevent  as  well  as  correct,  idleness,  vagran 
cy  and  improvidence.  If  slavery  be  retained  under  some  amelio 
rating  code,  then  not  only  may  the  masters  be  compelled  to  provide 
rations  and  securities,  but  the  slaves  may  be  compelled  to  suitable 
labor  —  the  labor  needful  to  enable  those  rations  and  securities. 

Before  suggesting  the  proper  methods  of  enforcing  labor,  let  it 
first  be  required  that  every  pains  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the 
necessity  of  enforcement  —  to  secure  voluntary  labor.  This  will  be 
partially  done  by  retaining  slavery,  i.  e.,  by  keeping  up  the  habits  and 
expectations  of  those  who,  from  generation  to  generation,  have  been 
"  held  to  labor."  Let  no  formal  emancipation  hazard  those  habits 
and  expectations ;  for,  whatever  nominal  or  real  freedom  might 
«  result  from  it,  there  can  be  no  release  to  the  mass  of  men  from  the 
labor  by  which  they  must  live,  —  from  the  "  sweat  of  the  brow,"  in 
which  they  must  "  eat  their  bread,"  —  while  yet  the  old  habits  and 
expectations  might  be  broken  up  without  any  sufficient  substitutes. 
Let,  then,  slavery  be  so  far  retained  as  to  preserve  the  old  habits 
and  expectations  of  labor,  and  the  old  sentiment  of  obedience  in  it, 
that  there  may  be  no  lack  of  the  old  rations  and  privileges  furnished 
thereby.  It  is,  I  believe,  an  undisputed  fact,  that  the  British  West 
Indies  were,  in  this  respect,  made  too  free,  —  were  released  unhap 
pily  from  the  habits  and  expectations  of  labor  —  from  the  sentiment 
of  obedient  labor ;  emancipated,  so  far  as  this  matter  is  concerned, 
to  their  own  disadvantage.  If  to  the  old  habits  and  expectations 
there  be  added  such  ameliorations  as  sensibly  promote  the  well- 
being  of  the  slaves,  there  will  be  every  reason  to  hope  for  voluntary 
labor ;  for  which,  also,  there  are  these  natural  provisions ,  — 


91 

1.  Task  work  ;  giving  at  once  the  needful  security  to  the  mastei 
for  the  services  due  for  rations  and  privileges,  and  to  the  slave  an 
opportunity  to  provide  for  his  comfort  beyond  those  rations  and 
privileges. 

Where  definite  daily  tasks  are  not  practicable,  results  may  be  taken 
instead ;  in  common  parlance,  labor  may  be  done  by  the  job ;  as  a 
field  cultivated,  a  harvest  secured,  wood  cut  and  hauled,  —  whether 
by  one,  or  by  a  company  united  under  one  leading  and  responsible 
head.  This  method  might  be  carried  into  any  kind  of  employment, 
and  to  any  extent  within  the  scope  of  African  contractors,  receiving 
a  good  margin  for  their  private  advantage,  and  yet  securing  to  the 
master  all  that  is  now  expected  from  slave  labor. 

2.  Rewards  for  faithful  and  skilful  service  ;  for  daily  labor  well 
done ;  for  a  course  of  tasks  well  performed ;  for  contracts  diligently 
and  advantageously  fulfilled.* 

But  with  all  the  advantage  of  the  habits  and  expectations  of  labor 
preserved,  and  of  a  method  of  tasks  and  rewards,  there  must  still 
be  supposed  a  necessity  of  enforcement,  and  of  course  there  must 
be  allowed  a  power  of  enforcement,  all,  subject  to  the  checks  and 
appeals  to  be  named  hereafter. 

1.  If  there  be  any  system  of  rewards,  the  mere  withholding  them 
may  be  found  an  adequate  enforcement. 

2.  The  Scripture  rule,  "  If  any  man  will  not  work,  neither  shall 
he  eat,"  suggests  an  obvious  method,  viz.,  the  rations  of  the  idle  may 
be  curtailed. 

3.  Property  being  allowed  and  encouraged,  there  may  be  punish 
ment  by  fines,  properly  guarded ;  not  accruing  to  the  master's  ben 
efit,  save  to  repair  his  damage,  but  to  some  fund  for  the  advantage 
of  the  slaves. 

4.  Solitary  confinement  and  the  whip  may  be  allowed  —  but  re 
served,  especially  the  whip,  for  the  last  resort  —  under  reference  and 
decision  of  some  authority  above  the  overseer  or  master.     As  in  all 
governments,  so  it  must  be  understood  here,  that  force  is  the  least 
available,  and  has  its  effect  not  by  being  frequent  and  general,  but 
by  being  unfrequent  and  special,  —  by  being,  in  truth,  the  last  and 
indispensable  resort. 

5.  There  may  be  added,  also,  the  power  of  selling  against  his 

*  Compare  Clarkson's  account  of  Mr.  Steel's  methods. 


92 

will  a  slave  found  incurably  idle  and  negligent,  after  due  delay  and 
reference. 

SECTION  II. 
Marriage  and  the  Domestic  Relations. 

Those  are  bad  bonds  which  are  stronger  than  marriage  and 
paternity.  Without  the  domestic  relations,  there  is  no  normal  con 
dition  of  society,  no  right  position  of  human  beings.  These  rela 
tions,  therefore,  must  be  sustained,  in  order  to  well-being.  What 
ever  may  be  the  probable  issue  of  this  requirement,  it  must  still  be 
made.  In  this  matter,  most  surely,  evil  must  not  be  done  that  good 
may  come. 

In  order  to  the  security  of  the  domestic  relations,  marriage  must 
begin  as  a  civil  and  religious  contract  for  life,  before  official  persons 
and  witnesses,  and  with  appropriate  solemnities  ;  must  be  considered 
as  sacred  and  indissoluble  as  with  the  white  race  ;  and  must  be  dis 
solved  only  on  the  same  conditions  and  with  the  same  formalities. 
The  crimes  against  marriage,  also,  fornication  and  adultery,  must 
be  under  the  general  laws  of  the  community. 

The  family  thus  established  must  be  sacred ;  must  be  protected 
in  its  relations  of  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children ;  and  must 
not  be  separated  for  less  causes,  or  on  harder  conditions  than  with 
the  white  race. 

There  will  be  a  direct  and  blessed  advantage  to  the  masters  by 
the  establishment  and  permanence  of  marriage  and  the  domestic 
relations,  because  it  secures  to  the  slaves  the  greatest  boon  of  life, 
and  delivers  them  from  life's  greatest  evil,  in  place  of  the  misery 
now  suffered  by  themselves  in  the  breaking  up  of  families  so  often 
occurring,  and  always  so  liable  to  occur. 

There  must  also  be  an  increased  advantage  from  the  service  of 
the  slaves.  Whatever  promotes  contentment  and  proper  enjoy 
ment  ;  whatever  aids  good  morals  and  good  conduct,  must  promote 
and  aid  their  diligence  and  fidelity,  and  must  make  them  more  and 
more  valuable  so  long  as  their  services  are  desired ;  and  regarding 
this  matter  simply,  more  valuable  if  their  services  are'  to  be  sold 
instead  of  retained. 

Again,  there  must  be  some  advantage  in  retaining  the  arrange 
ment  and  authority  of  slavery  in  promoting  and  establishing  mar- 


93 

riage.  As  in  our  own  state  of  society,  definite  and  hopeful  arrange 
ments  promote  marriage,  and  as  marriage,  held  in  honor,  prevents 
fornication,  adultery,  and  concubinage,  so  may  it  be  expected  to  be 
among  the  slaves ;  while  the  reverse  might  be  feared,  if  the  accus 
tomed  supervision,  provision,  and  hope  were  broken  up.  In  illus 
tration,  if  not  confirmation,  we  have  the  complaint  of  a  friend  and 
advocate  of  West  India  emancipation,  of  the  disadvantage  of  the 
emancipated  population  in  this  very  respect ;  —  free,  indeed,  but  too 
free  for  the  promotion  of  the  marriage  relation  :  "  Multitudes  of 
families,"  he  writes,  "are  growing  up  almost  in  the  \vildness  of 
nature,  without  the  protection  of  the  social  condition  which  is 
ensured  by  marriage  and  its  holy  obligations.  When  the  people 
emerged  from  slavery,  the  vices  of  the  system,  its  indifference  to 
the  higher  obligations  of  life,  its  loose  morality,  its  diminished  self- 
respect,  and  low,  sensual  condition,  still  clung  to  the  people."  *  May 
we  not  suppose  that  marriage  would  have  been  better  established, 
and  its  kindred  virtues  better  secured,  and  the  opposite  vices  better 
prevented,  if  the  bond  to  labor  and  provision  and  the  general  over 
sight  and  care  had  been  preserved,  than  by  the  spontaneous  move 
ments  of  emancipated  slaves,  or  even  of  such  a  free  people  as  the 
African  race  must  be  supposed,  if  their  settlement  in  the  West 
Indies  had  been  free  from  the  first? 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  domestic  relations  and  moralities  are 
sustained,  this  improvement  will  react  on  the  value  of  slaves ;  either 
enabling  the  holder  to  keep  his  slave  advantageously,  or  opening 
better  ways  than  now  for  the  disposal  of  his  labor. 

The  amelioration  here  proposed  is  so  indispensable,  —  in  view 
of  the  whole  circumstances  and  condition  of  the  slaves,  —  is  such  a 
demand  of  nature,  as  to  force  itself  upon  the  consideration  of  the 
South. 

"  Such  a  change  in  our  laws,"  says  a  writer,  years  ago,  in  the 
New  Orleans  Bulletin,  "  is  called  for  by  motives  of  humanity,  and 
an  enlightened  view  of  public  and  private  interests.  It  would  be 
beneficial  alike  to  the  master  and  the  slave,  to  the  debtor  and  the 
creditor,  to  the  State  and  its  citizens.  Strong  as  is  the  social  tie 
between  master  and  slave,  it  would  be  tenfold  strengthened  by  the 
adoption  of  the  law  proposed."  "  Slaves  in  the  main  would  feel 

*  National  Era,  March  8th,  1845 


94 

themselves  more  permanent,  and  become  happier  and  better,  rising 
in  the  estimation  of  their  masters."  "  Slave  property  would  become 
more  permanent,  and  consequently  more  valuable." 

The  following  statement  has  been  lately  repeated  in  many  papers. 
The  last  New  York  Colonization  Journal  quotes  it,  with  favora 
ble  comments,  from  the  Port  Gibson  (Mississippi)  Reveille,  as 
follows :  — 

"  The  project  now  being  agitated  by  the  people  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  soon  to  be  carried  before  the  legislature  of  that  State, 
is  one  which,  we  think,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  will  create  a  sensa 
tion.  It  is,  1st.  To  render  legal  the  institution  of  marriage  among 
slaves.  2d.  To  preserve  sacred  the  relations  between  parents  and 
their  young  children ;  and  3d.  To  repeal  the  laws  prohibiting  the 
education  of  slaves.  If  this  modification  in  the  laws  is  made  in 
North  Carolina,  as  we  are  informed  it  probably  will,  other  States 
will  no  doubt  take  the  matter  into  consideration.  The  main  fea 
tures  of  the  movement  have  been  adopted  in  practice,  or  at  least 
approved  in  theory,  by  nearly  all  our  planters,  so  far  as  circum 
stances  would  allow:  and  we  cannot  but  think  the  modification 
is  well  worth  the  serious  consideration  of  every  southern  man. 
Should  the  southern  people  think  proper,  after  due  investiga 
tion,  to  adopt  the  regulation  in  each  of  the  slave  States,  slavery 
will  then  be  regarded  in  an  entire  new  light,  and  the  enemies  of 
the  institution  will  then  be  robbed  of  their  most  fruitful  and 
plausible  excuse  for  agitation  and  complaint.  There  may  be, 
however,  evils  to  contend  with,  and  objections  to  be  answered,  in 
the  adoption  of  such  a  modification.  We  therefore  leave  the  sub 
ject  open  for  future  consideration,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  invite 
a  free  examination  of  the  subject  by  our  readers." 


SECTION  III. 
Sales  and  Emigration. 

THE  whole  matter  of  Sales  comes  to  be  considered  in  connection 
with  the  requirement  that  the  domestic  relations  shall  be  estab 
lished  and  sacredly  regarded.  Besides  the  limitation  of  sales  re 
quired  by  the  domestic  relations,  there  may  be  others  needful. 


95 

jf 

1.  It  is  desirable,  if  not  indispensable,  that  sales  should  not  be 
made  without  consent,  except  in  the  case  of  young  children  sold 
with  their   parents;    or  orphans  of  such  age  that,  as  free,  they 
would  be  disposed  of  at  the  discretion  of  their  guardians,  or  the 
civil    authorities.      The    more    nearly    this    regulation     can    be 
adopted,  the  more  cheerful  and   effective  will  service  be    likely 
to  become. 

2.  There  seems  needful,  at  least,  a  special  provision  in  behalf  of 
young  females,  whether  in  view  of  their   actual  exposure  to  the 
passions  of  base  men,  or  to  those  apprehensions  and  fears  which 
they  may  feel,  making  sales  against  their  will  the  greatest  injustice 
and  cruelty.     No  sales  of  young  females  should  be  made  without 
their  own  consent  and  that  of  their  friends,  except  under  due  exami 
nation  and  decision. 

3.  There  may  be  a  provision  for  the  sale  of  refractory  slaves, 
without  their  consent,  under  the  supervision  and  decision  of  the 
proper  authorities ;  which  sale  is  to  be  considered  as  a  transporta 
tion  for  misconduct. 

If  these  prohibitions  to  sales  now  allowed  by  law,  are  made,  it  is 
plain  that  great  inconvenience  must  arise  to  all  classes  of  the  com 
munity,  whether  sellers  or  purchasers,  debtors  or  creditors.  The 
inconvenience  seems  so  great,  that  it  is  generally  assumed  that  the 
right  of  indiscriminate  sale  is  essential  to  the  institution ;  and  that 
it  must  be  valueless  without  it.  We  admit  the  immediate  inconve 
nience,  but  find  in  the  advantages  of  a  Remedial  Code  certain  com 
pensations,  and  at  length  a  more  valuable  use  and  disposal  of  slave 
labor. 

1.  The  use  of  labor  may  be  supposed  to  become  more  easy,  secure, 
and  advantageous,  by  means  of  the  new  restrictions  on  sales. 
When  the  domestic  relations,  and  even  the  wishes  of  the  slaves,  are 
known  to  be  regarded,  labor  may  become  so  much  more  valuable, 
that  there  will  be  far  less  occasion  for  the  sales  which  now  seem 
indispensable.  The  relief  may  be  found  in  the  more  economi 
cal  expenditure  of  a  contented  service,  in  the  better  industry  of  the 
laborers,  the  better  cultivation  of  estates,  or  their  enlargement  by 
the  redemption  of  waste  lands.  Thus,  there  may  be  less  debt  to 
provide  for,  less  risk  to  the  creditor,  and  less  damage  than  would 
occur  if  slaves  were  not  liable  to  "  execution  for  debt,"  in  the  pres 
ent  state  of  things. 


96 

2.  If  the  condition  of  both  masters  and  slaves  is  made  better,  and 
if  slave  labor  is  thereby  more  satisfactory,  then  there  may  be  less 
unwillingness  to  be  sold,  and  thus  an  improved  opportunity  of  sale 
by  consent,  beyond  what  would  be  found  at  present. 

3.  No   doubt,   also,   when    there   are    occasions  for    sale,   there 
will  be  found  methods  of  selling  whole  families  together,  by  barter 
or  otherwise,  with  advantage  to  both  buyers  and  sellers,  and  with  a 
more  satisfactory  condition  of  the  slave  family  itself. 

4.  Slaves  may  be  made  willing  to  be  sold  often,  no  doubt,  by  a 
"  bonus,"  given  by  buyer  or  seller,  or  both,  or  by  a  bounty  proffered 
in  certain  cases  by  the  State,  to  accrue  to  the  slave's  advantage,  and 
to  be  invested  for  him  ;  and  if  with  his  master,  then  to  be  secured 
on  his  person,  as  hereafter  explained.    In  this  way  it  may  be  hoped 
that  the  occasions  of  buyers  will  be  provided  for,  either  by  the 
consent  of  the  immediate  parties  sought,  or  by  its  general  influence 
upon  the  labor  market  at  large.     Thus  under  "  the  fishing  bounty," 
the  individual  captain  may  succeed  in  obtaining  the  "  hands  "  he 
seeks ;  and  if  not,  will  find  a  sufficient  supply  in  the  general  mar 
ket.     Thus  it  may  be  supposed  that  even  the  great  western  market 
may  find  supply.     A  government  "  bounty  "  accruing  to  the  slaves, 
might  be  found  to  furnish  voluntary  labor,  up  to  the  whole  demand 
for  western  emigration. 

5.  Under  the  arrangements  for  the  property  of  slaves,  which  we 
have  to  propose,  there  is  yet  another  relief  to  debtor  and  creditor. 
The  slaves  themselves  may  prevent  the  necessity  of  sales,  by  loan 
ing  their  own  property  to  their   masters,  on   the  security  of  their 
own  persons  up  to  the  amount  loaned  ;  thus  relieving  their  masters, 
satisfying  the  creditor,  investing  their   own  savings  securely,  and 
keeping  whatever  favorable  position  they  may  be  enjoying  in  their 
master's  service. 

6.  As  to  the  security  for  debt  now  existing  in  the  liability  of  sale, 
the  State,  if  it  abolish  the  existing  law  on  which  they  were  made, 
must  answer  for  all  contracts.     When  the  courts  have  given  judg 
ment  against  the  debtor,  the  judgment  must  be  levied  on  the  State 
and  not  on  the  master,  and  the  State,  if  needful,  must  make  such 
disposal  of  the  slaves  as  is  consistent  with  the  new  regulations,  and 
hold  itself  responsible  for  any  balance  which  would  have  accrued 
to  the  creditor,  if  the  slaves  had  been  sold  without  the  "  ex  post 
facto  "  disadvantage. 


97 

7.  The  new  restrictions  once  enacted,  then  all  contracts  would 
come  to  be  made  in  view  of  them,  and  the  business  of  life  would 
go  forward  as  it  now  does,  under  settled  legal  exemptions.     It  is  no 
new  principle  to  make  exemptions  of  property,  and  to  have  them 
taken  into  the  account  in  making  contracts.     The  widow's  dower  is 
a  long-established  instance.     With  questionable  reason,  some  States 
have  added  the  homestead  exemption. 

8.  The  distribution  of  estates,  except  as  embarrassed  by  unful 
filled  contracts,  may,  perhaps,  from  the  first,  be  required  to  take  its 
course  under  the  new  laws. 

9.  With  regard  to  the  occasions  of  buyers  —  to  the  whole  difficulty 
of  getting  the  service  which  is  needful — in  the  first  place,  buyers 
must  submit  to  the  indispensable  changes,  for  the  sake  of  humanity 
and  justice,  at  whatever  inconvenience ;  while,  in  the  second  place, 
it  may  be  hoped  that  methods  will  be  found  of  supplying  every 
needful  service  within  the  scope  of  humanity  and  justice ;  and  thus 
with  the  prospect  of  better  service. 

10.  With  regard  to  the  requirements  of  emigration,  the  especial 
necessity  of  our  extending  settlements,  at  the   South  as  well  as  at 
the   North :  —  No  doubt   there   must    be    at  the    North,   as    at 
the  South,  a  continual    emigration  of  capital  and  labor,  with  the 
desire  to  improve  a  prosperous   or  to  repair  an  impaired  condi 
tion  ;  and  as  at  the  North,  so  at  the  South,  it  must  often  be  with 
the  painful  severance  of  family  bonds.     But  this    severance  must 
be  on  the  same  principles  with  the  slaves  as  with  the  free ;  must 
never  be    with   the  slaves  in  such  wise  as   is  not   tolerated  with 
the  free. 

Nevertheless,  if  there  be  emigration,  if  the  southern  West  is  to  be 
occupied  from  the  southern  East,  there  must  be  a  removal  of  labor 
as  well  as  capital  —  of  slaves  as  well  as  masters.  But  let  the  re 
moval  of  slaves  and  the  supply  of  labor  be  provided  for  in  such 
ways  as  the  following  :  — 

(1.)  Let  the  removal  of  slaves  be  with  their  masters  and  their 
masters'  children,  of  them  and  their  children.  Let  it  be  a  patriar 
chal  removal.  Let  whole  families  of  slaves  be  removed,  parties 
being  exchanged,  by  barter  or  sale,  with  neighboring  plantations,  in 
such  wise  as  to  unite  families,  whether  left  or  carried. 

(2.)  So  far  as  the  good  will  of  the  slave  is  concerned  in  this  matter, 
and  with  the  general  design  of  furnishing  a  sufficient  supply  of  emi- 
9 


98 

grating  labor  for  the  south-western  market,  there  may  be  offered,  as 
intimated  in  reference  to  the  general  market,  a  bounty,  which,  for 
this  purpose,  may  be  special  and  larger  than   for  other  services,  v 
thus  securing  volunteers  ;  the  bounty,  if  the  slave  desire  it,  to  be 
secured  on  his  person. 

(3.)  There  is  yet  another  method  of  providing  for  south-western 
emigration,  viz. :  The  removal  of  free  blacks  as  laborers  with 
good  wages ;  i.  e.,  provided  that  adequate  laborers  can  be  furnished 
from  this  class.  There  must  always  be  a  multitude  sufficiently 
needy  to  be  induced  by  the  promise  of  good  wages,  to  try  a  new 
method  of  life,  where,  without  being  enslaved,  they  may  have  the 
opportunity  of  labor  and  acquisition,  —  the  provisions  and  securities 
which  capital  alone  can  furnish. 

In  order  to  aid  this  arrangement,  and  thus  to  rid  themselves  of 
an  ill-provisioned  population,  as  well  as  make  good  provision  for 
it,  the  States,  severally,  may  extend  the  "  bounty  "  to  those  free 
blacks  who  shall  go  west  as  free  laborers,  under  such  engagements 
as  will  render  them  available.  Such  "  bounty "  might  be  under 
the  supervision  of  State  commissioners,  appointed  to  make  the 
arrangement  mutually  advantageous  to  the  employers  and  em 
ployed. 

If  the  West  Indies  can  be  at  the  expense  of  importing  "  coolies  " 
for  their  plantations,  or  in  truth  if  slaves  can  be  imported  from 
Africa ;  or,  once  more,  if  the  internal  slave  trade  can  find  a  con 
stant  market,  then  surely  the  purchasers  can  afford  and  will  be 
willing  to  give  a  "  bonus  "  and  wages,  such  as  might  be  an  induce 
ment  to  large  numbers  of  "  free  blacks,"  at  once  to  emigrate  and  to 
become  available  laborers,  even  without  the  "  bounty "  which  we 
have  proposed  should  be  offered  by  the  State. 


SECTION  IV. 
Slaves  to  be  capable  of  acquiring  and  holding  Property. 

The  law  of  marriage  being  settled,  and  the  domestic  relations 
secured,  there  must  needs  be  added  the  power  of  acquiring  and 
holding  property  for  themselves  and  their  heirs,  under  the  general 
laws  of  property  and  inheritance,  with  whatever  special  rules  and 
limitations. 


99 

It  is  understood  that  the  master's  claim  to  service  is  to  remain 
unimpaired  and  undisturbed.  This,  due  to  the  master,  for  rations 
and  securities,  is  to  be  considerad  as  owed  by  the  slave,  up  to  the 
average  value  of  good  and  faithful  slave  labor.  And  this  service  is 
not  only  owed,  but  necessary,  also,  in  order  that  the  master  may  be 
able  to  give  the  rations  and  securities  required ;  may  sustain  the 
capital  and  arrangements,  which,  without  labor,  must  become  as 
unavailable  to  the  slaves  as  to  himself.  It  may  be  found  on  trial, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  the  master's  advantage  is  promoted  by  the 
privilege  here  required  for  the  slave  ;  that  his  own  property  will 
be  more  valuable  because  property  is  allowed  and  secured  to  the 
slave.  This  will  certainly  be  the  case  if  he  is  rendered  thereby 
more  contented  and  hopeful  in  his  lot,  and  more  just  and  gen 
erous,  in  proportion  to  the  justice  and  generosity  with  which 
he  is  treated.  The  possession  of  property,  with  the  protection 
of  the  domestic  relations,  must  be  conservative  in  the  highest 
degree. 

1.  Without  any  alterations  in  existing  arrangements,  there  is  yet 
room  for  slaves  to  acquire  property.      Fulfilling  their  labors  as 
slaves,  and  returning  thus  for  what  they  receive,  there  is  even  now 
scope  for  acquisition  for  themselves.     What  we  propose  is  to  legal 
ize  what  already  exists,  and  to  extend  it  to  the  secure  holding,  dis 
posal,  and  transmission  of  property.     This  legalized  property  may 
be  acquired,  as  extra  money  now  is,  by  whatever  honest  means,  after 
the  labor  due  for  rations  and  privileges  has  been  done ;  by  whatever 
work  a  slave  can  do  above  his  allotted  work  or  task  ;  by  whatever 
"  bonus  "  may  be  given  for  faithful  and  successful  labors  ;  or,  as  is 
now  often  allowed,  the  slave  may  claim  the  privilege  of  laboring  on 
his  own  account,  on  the  security  of  some  responsible  person,  re 
turning  a  fixed  sum  to  his  master.    This  is  the  Russian  obrok,  which 
proves  such  a  mitigation  of  the  serfs  lot.* 

2.  As  capacity  and  capital  increase,  so  as  to  prepare  them  for 
larger  employments,  they  may  be  permitted  to  take  charge  of  certain 
departments  or  certain  portions  of  an  estate ;  thus  employing  and 
increasing  the  property  which  as  slaves  they  may  have  been  able  to 
acquire.     They  may  become,  also,  contractors  for  any  work  within 
their  scope,  under  some  satisfactory  arrangement  with  the  master 

*  Allison's  Europe,  p.  412. 


100 

for  service  due,  and  to  whatever  extent  their  skill  and  capital  may 
reach. 

3.  The  redemption  of  waste  lands  furnishes  another  obvious  mode 
of  acquiring  property.     Slaves  may  be  encouraged  to  expend  their 
extra  labor  and  gains  on  such  lands,  under  the  assurance  that  the 
improvements  made  shall  accrue  to  their  benefit,  under  some  mod 
erate  allowance  for  the  bottom,  or   at  some  agreed  or  arbitrated 
price.     A  provision  for  such  improvements  exists  in  China.    "  Any 
one,  by  simply  applying  to  government,  may  obtain  permission  ; 
and  a   wise  exemption   from   taxes  until   the   land  becomes  pro 
ductive,    allows    the   cultivator   to   reap  a  proper   reward  for  his 
industry."  * 

4.  They  may  take  leases  of  property,  working  it  with  their  capi 
tal,  paying  rent  for  their  persons  and  lands,  and  having  a  claim  for 
remuneration  for  all  improvements  they  make,  at  a  fair  and  arbi 
trated  rate.     To  such  leases,  with  security  for  the  improvements 
made,  the  comparative  prosperity  of  Ulster  is  ascribed  amidst  the 
miseries  of  Ireland. f     Such  leases  may  be  made  in  perpetuity,  if 
experience  should  encourage  it,  as  likely  to  be  beneficial  to  the 
slaves  and  the  masters  alike.     The  lease  in  perpetuity  of  lands  and 
persons  would  indeed  be  a  virtual  freedom,  lacking  only  the  rent 
paid  for  his  own  person  ;  and  in  view  of  a  provision  hereafter  to 
be  suggested,  thus  paid,  in  preference  to  diminishing  his  capital  by 
the  price  of  his  person.     Of  the  advantage  of  leases  in  perpetuity, 
both  to  proprietors  and  tenants,  we  have  illustration  in  Mr.  Col- 
thurst's  account  of  an  experiment  in  Ireland,  on  two  estates  under 
his  charge.  I 

Besides  legalizing  the  acquisition  of  property,  it  becomes  a  Chris 
tian  State,  wise  and  merciful,  to  encourage  and  aid  its  secure  and 
advantageous  investment.  There  are  modes  of  investment  implied 
in  the  preceding  ways  of  acquisition.  The  following  direct  methods 
are  suggested. 

1.  An  open  account  with  the  master,  and  held  by  the  slave,  like  a 
savings-bank  book;  the  sums  to  be  on  a  moderate  interest,  and 
secured  on  the  person  of  the  slave,  so  that  if  the  master  refuse  or 

*  BlackAvood's  Magazine,  Oct.  1854,  p.  595. 
f  New  York  Observer,  July  5,  1850. 
J  London  Morning  Chronicle,  January  2,  1819. 


101 

fail  to  pay,  the  debt  may  avail  to  such  portion  of  freedom  as  the 
sums  loaned  might  claim ;  the  freedom  having  a  fixed  or  adjudicated 
value. 

2.  Slaves,  like  freemen,  according  to  their  means,  may  be  allowed 
to  purchase  any  kind  of  personal  property  or  real  estate,  and  to 
hold  and  transmit  it  as  if  they  were  free ;  themselves  still  holden  to 
good    and   faithful    slave   service,   or   an    accepted    compensation 
therefor. 

3.  Savings-banks    may  be  instituted  within  the  knowledge  and 
reach  of  contiguous   estates.       This   has  been    suggested  at   the 
South.     The  New  Orleans  Bulletin,  April,  1854,  recommends  it  in 
connection  with  a  fact  illustrating  the  power  of  present  acquisition. 
A  master  appeared  in  court,  claiming  in  behalf  of  a  female  slave 
five  hundred  dollars,  which  she  had  loaned  and  which  was  fraudu 
lently  retained.     Another  instance  has  been  reported,  of  complaint 
by  a  slave  that  he  had  been  robbed  of  a  considerable  amount,  which 
complaint  was  aided  by  the  master's  testimony,  that  he  was  likely 
to  have  had  the  amount  named,  and  that  he  had  himself  been  some 
times  a  borrower  from  that  very  slave.     Surely,  besides  legalizing 
such  acquisitions,  the  State  should  see  that  the  convenience  and 
security   of    the   savings-banks  is  extended  to   the   slaves;    well 
assured   that  neither  the  masters   nor  the  State  will   suffer  dam 
age  thereby. 

4.  There  is  yet  another  mode  of  investment,  viz.,  the  purchase  of 
freedom  ;  if  the  slave  prefer  thus  to  invest  his  savings,  instead  of 
keeping  them  for  his  present  use  and  comfort,  or  for  greater  increase 
in  view  of  the  future  occasions  of  himself  and  family.     Under  the 
amelioration  proposed,  freedom  will  become  less  and  less  desirable, 
and  probably  less  and  less  desired.     Still,  no  doubt,  it  should  be  an 
object  attainable  by  those  who  may  choose  to  sacrifice  its  price. 
There  may  be,  then,  legalized  an  open  account  with  the  master,  for 
the  purchase  of  freedom  ;    always  available  in  proportion,  if  the 
master  should  be  unable  to  refund.     Or  the  slave,  making  his  in 
vestments  in  whatever  ways  he  may  prefer,  may  claim  his  freedom 
on  the  payment  of  a  registered  or  adjudicated  price.     In  the  case  of 
partial  freedom,  obtained  by  means  of  debt  from  the  master  to  the 
slave,  it  might  be  in  fractions  of  a  week,  as  exemplified  in  the  Cod- 
rington  estate,  Barbadoes,  under  the  care  of  the  Society  for  promot 
ing  Christian  Knowledge,  the  slave  becoming  Monday  free,  Tues- 

9* 


102 

day  free,  &c.,  until  he  had  acquired  the  whole  six  days  of  the 
week. 


SECTION  V. 
Education  and  Religious  Worship. 

No  doubt  the  slaves  are  human,  and  have  a  right  to  all  possible 
advantages  belonging  to  their  humanity ;  are  entitled  to  all  possi 
ble  provision  for  their  wants  as  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  beings. 
As  we  fail  in  regard  to  the  European  race,  so  we  may  do,  in  fact, 
in  regard  to  the  African ;  but  there  is  no  just  principle  of  failure 
with  either.  Individually  and  socially,  we  are  bound  to  provide 
according  to  our  power  for  both  races  alike. 

In  requiring,  then,  education  and  religious  worship  for  the  slaves, 
is  it  needful  to  abolish  slavery?  Or  may  we  not  aid  and  secure 
these  advantages  better  by  slavery  retained  ?  i.  e.,  in  its  essential 
quality  of  being  held  to  labor ;  better  than  by  annulling  the  obliga 
tion  and  the  habits  of  obedient  labor  ?  Whatever  answer  experi 
ence  may  give  to  these  questions,  it  is  plain  that  under  a  Remedial 
Code,  at  once  retaining  and  ameliorating  their  present  relation  to 
their  masters,  both  influence  and  authority  will  have  advantage  in 
aiding  and  directing  the  best  arrangements. 

As  every  where  else,  education  must  be  understood  as  including 
religious  education.  The  human  being  can  have  no  education  suit 
ed  to  his  whole  nature  and  necessities  unless  it  be  religious ;  not 
even  for  time  and  earth.  No  education  is  suitable  for  man,  which 
does  not  provide  for  his  right  conduct,  and  of  course  which  does  not 
provide  the  motives  for  right  conduct ;  which  does  not  require  and 
aid  the  inward  principles  on  which  men  should  act ;  by  which  temp 
tations  may  be  overcome,  evil  tendencies  checked,  and  moral  wrong 
and  ruin  prevented  for  earth  and  time,  as  well  as  for  eternity.  If 
education  must  be  religious,  it  must  also  be  scriptural ;  for  as  Chris 
tian  men  and  a  Christian  people,  we  have  accepted  the  Scriptures 
as  the  supreme  guide  and  authority.  In  this  requirement  we  pro 
vide  against  sectarian  teaching ;  believing  that  for  the  great  pur 
poses  of  this  life  and  the  next,  the  Bible  unexplained  is  ample,  — 
that  he  who  is  taught  the  Bible  has  abundant  opportunity  to  learn 
his  duties  to  God  and  man,  —  his  whole  guilt  and  need,  and  all  the 


103 

grace  and  goodness  which  meets  him  to  aid  and  enable  his  recovery 
and  salvation. 

With  religious  education,  all  education  should  proceed ;  and  this 
leading  the  way,  all  education  possible  and  suitable  to  the  individual 
will  require  to  be  provided  for.  Reading,  of  course,  is  the  natural 
ally  and  effect  of  religious  education.  To  this  should  be  added  the 
two  other  keys  of  knowledge,  writing  and  arithmetic.  All  this  needs 
to  be  legalized,  if  not  required  by  the  State.  Without  being  claimed 
and  enforced  by  the  laws,  the  repeal  of  all  laws  to  the  contrary 
would  give  scope  to  the  conscience  and  good  will  of  masters  and  their 
families,  and  would  go  far  to  promote  general  education ;  and  so 
much  the  more,  as  the  influence  and  general  authority  of  slavery  is 
retained.  Free  scope,  also,  would  be  given  to  the  general  Chris-  / 
tian  zeal  of  the  country. 

There  must  also  be  a  provision  for  religious  worship  and  instruc 
tion.  There  is  difficulty  in  this,  owing  to  the  difference  of  relig 
ious  sects.  This  difficulty  must  be  met,  no  doubt,  with  toleration. 
This  being  understood,  then  there  is  obvious  reason  for  an  actual 
choice  or  preference,  for  each  separate  locality ;  since,  while  any 
thing  and  every  thing  is  waited  for,  nothing  positive  will  be  done. 
In  most  cases  —  the  truth  being  supposed  on  the  whole  maintained 
—  the  denomination  is  to  be  preferred  which  has  already  the  van 
tage  ground ;  the  encouragement  should  go  with  and  not  against 
any  good  current  already  flowing. 

Speaking  absolutely  and  in  view  of  the  general  wants  of  the 
human  mind,  and  of  the  slaves  in  particular,  there  are  obvious  ad 
vantages  in  a  liturgy,  —  where  it  can  be  received  with  good  will,  — 
with  which  the  Church  of  England  is  so  well  furnished.  Especially 
would  a  liturgy  and  suitable  homilies  be  of  great  value  on  estates, 
or  unions  of  estates,  where  there  is  not  a  stated  ministry.  Where 
there  is  no  such  liturgy  provided,  it  is  plain  that  the  Scriptures  fur 
nish  abundant  materials  for  public  worship  and  instruction,  —  the 
psalms  furnishing  prayers  and  chants. 

No  doubt  there  should  be  provided,  as  extensively  as  possible, 
houses  of  public  worship,  for  the  slaves  alone,  where  they  choose 
-it  and  are  sufficiently  numerous  ;  but  by  preference  for  the  masters 
and  slaves  together,  with  no  other  distinctions  than  belong  to  all 
countries  and  times,  to  the  relations  of  masters  and  servants  —  dis 
tinctions  not  discarded  by  the  Old  Testament  or  the  New. 


104 

And  will  education  and  religious  worship  destroy  or  embarrass 
the  institution  ?  will  it  destroy  or  impair  the  essential  quality  of 
slavery  ?  will  the  slave  be  less  easily  "  held  to  labor  ?  " 

In  reply :  Let  a  Remedial  Code  be  regarded  as  a  beneficial 
whole.  If  the  ameliorations  are  really  better  than  emancipation  — 
if  the  rations  and  privileges  retained  with  slavery  are  better  to 
the  slave  than  perfect  freedom  without  them,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
that  the  best  educated  will  perceive  it,  and  know  better  than  to 
give  up  the  solid  advantages  of  "  rations  and  privileges  "  for  the 
empty  name  of  freedom  —  then  bringing  no  essential  blessing  to 
them  and  their  children.  The  causes  of  discontent  removed,  a 
contented  people  may  be  hoped  for ;  the  motives  to  disorder  and 
rebellion  no  longer  existing,  the  fears  of  disorder  and  rebellion  may 
pass  away.  The  masters  becoming  in  truth  the  patriarchs  of  the 
communities  around  them,  the  affections  and  influences  which  bind 
them  even  now  together  will  be  strengthened,  and  mutual  confidence 
prevail  so  much  the  more,  and  not  so  much  the  less,  as  the  peasantry 
are  educated  intellectually,  morally  and  religiously. 

Further,  under  the  ameliorations  proposed,  active  and  enterpris 
ing  spirits  must  needs  find  various  scope  in  legitimate  ways.  The 
natural  desires  which  issue  in  establishing  the  young  in  domestic 
life,  —  the  care  of  young  families,  now  as  secure  from  dispersion  as 
those  of  the  white  race,  —  the  attempt  for  increasing  property,  now 
legalized  to  those  still  "  held  to  labor,"  and  thereby  greater  com 
forts  and  hopes,  —  the  care  of  enlarged  business  to  those  who  be 
come  capable  of  it  by  growing  capacity  and  capital ;  and  if  they 
desire,  the  open  chance  of  having  full  freedom,  not  without  but  with 
the  means  of  supplying  the  lost  "  rations  and  privileges  ;  "  —  all  these 
will  give  ample  scope  and  employment  to  whatever  energy  and  ac 
tivity,  to  whatever  capacity  and  education.  Still  further,  there 
would  be  opening,  continually,  various  offices  of  teaching,  of  relig 
ious  service  and  of  internal  police. 

SECTION  VI. 
The  Protection  of  the  Laws  :  Judicial  Provisions  and  Methods. 

The  whole  social  polity  of  a  State  has,  no  doubt,  for  its  essential 
rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even 


105 

so  to  them."  The  rule  for  the  individual  must  be  the  rule  for  the 
corporate  responsibility,  which  God  holds  to  account ;  and  all  laws 
should  be  in  harmony  with  it ;  no  law  should  contradict  it.  But 
this  essential  rule  is  to  be  applied  according  to  right  and  wise 
desires,  and  not  to  those  which  are  wrong  and  foolish.  It  does  not 
require,  for  instance,  parental  authority,  or  the  parental  states,  to 
abrogate  the  laws  which  subject  minority,  and  yield  to  the  wrong 
and  foolish  wishes  of  the  inexperienced  and  self-confident  "  teens  ; " 
for  absurd  and  fatal  misrule,  though  it  be  in  correspondence  with 
the  remembered  longings  of  early  life.  In  like  manner  there  is 
no  rule  of  Christian  good-will  requiring  of  the  State,  laws,  provisions, 
methods  for  the  slave,  save  as  they  be  right  and  wise,  and  not 
wrong  and  foolish,  in  view  of  their  whole  condition  and  relations, 
whatever  we  may  suppose  ourselves  to  have  wished  amiss  if  we 
had  been  in  their  place. 

We  do  not  proceed  on  the  supposition  that  a  complete  and  per 
fect  code  can  be  formed  and  introduced  at  once.  But  endeavoring 
to  survey  the  whole  ground,  we  must  form  the  most  perfect  pro 
gramme  that  we  can  ;  conscious  to  what  imperfection  we  are  liable. 
Our  business  must  then  be  to  begin  with  the  most  obvious  demands, 
and  to  proceed  from  step  to  step  as  experience  and  good  judgment 
may  direct ;  assured  that  no  present  proposal  can  foreshow  the 
finished  work.  With  reference  to  our  progress,  thus  far ;  the  estab 
lishment  and  protection  of  the  family  relations,  and  the  allowance 
and  security  of  property,  are  obvious  demands,  which  granted,  would 
essentially  improve  the  condition  of  the  slaves,  whatever  other  mat 
ters  were  left  unchanged.  Certain  of  the  suggestions  of  the  present 
chapter  may  be  so  plain  as  to  claim  instant  adoption,  while  others 
may  be  questionable  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  may  require  to 
wait  upon  time  and  experience.  With  this  impression,  we  aim 
to  make  our  suggestions  as  complete  as  we  can;  providing  for 
whatever  special  ameliorations,  and  for  the  general  well-being  of 
the  enslaved. 

1 .  The  general  laws  of  the  State  and  the  provisions  for  their  exe 
cution,  must  be  considered  as  equally  for  the  protection  of  bond  and 
free  ;  with  only  such  just  and  merciful  exceptions  as  belong  to  the 
mutual  relations  of  capital  and  labor,  still  by  law  retained.  If  there 
be  any  other  exception,  it  should  be  in  favor  of  the  slave,  the  law 
providing  specially  for  his  aid  in  any  emergency,  as  the  more  help 
less  party. 


106 

2.  There  must  needs  be  a  repeal  of  all  cruel  and  oppressive  laws ; 
and  whatever  cruelty  or  oppression  may  have  been  sanctioned  by 
custom  must  be  forbidden  by  law.     As  intimated  in  Section  1,  all 
summary  whipping  even,  must  be  forbidden  ;  for  if  force  must  still 
be  allowed  to  compel  labor,  it  will  do  it  with  better  success  when  it 
is  deliberate  and  judicial,  and  therefore   unfrequent.      The   most 
effectual  penalty  for  oppression  and  cruelty  of  any  sort  may  be  the 
forfeiture  of  the  slave ;  partly  to  himself,  and  partly  to  some  public 
fund  in  aid  of  a  Remedial  Code. 

3.  In  order  to  secure  justice  it  is  indispensable  to  admit  the  testi 
mony  of  slaves  ;  —  it  may  be  done  cautiously  and  experimentally  at 
first ;  but  probably  better,  instantly  and  fully,  with  such  conditions  as 
shall  best  tend  to  secure  its  truth.    If  their  testimony  must  be  consid 
ered  unreliable,  it  should  be  remembered  that  it  may  become  more 
trustworthy  the  more  it  is  trusted ;   and  that,  at  the  worst,  the  tend 
ency  of  falsehood  is  always  to  betray  itself  and  to  discover  and  sus 
tain  the  truth  —  giving  still  the  opportunity  of  right  decision  amidst 
false  witnesses.    This  triumph  of  truth  over  falsehood  has  been  had 
a  thousand  times  in  the  courts  of  Hindostan,  by  means  of  falsehood 
itself. 

4.  There  may  be  needed  the  repeal  of  laws  interfering  with  harm 
less  liberties  and  innocent  assemblings,  which  can  only  be  decided 
in  view  of  circumstances  as  they  are,  or  may  become,  in  the  pro 
gress  of  ameliorations.   In  general  terms,  the  occasions  which  seemed 
to   require  such  laws  may   be  expected  to   become  less  and  less 
numerous  and  imperious,  as  improvements  are  made  in  the  general 
condition  of  the  slaves.     A  contented  peasantry  would  not  need 
them. 

5.  There  may  be  required  officers  and  courts  of  the  slaves  them 
selves,  capable  of  arresting  wrong  proceedings,  of  requiring  and 
enforcing  labor  from  the  slaves,  and  rations  and  privileges  and  fair 
treatment  from  the  master ;  all  checked  and  restrained  by  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  higher  courts. 

There  may  be  conservative,  preventive,  and  even  judicial  officers 
—  a  slave  tribune,  with  power  to  arrest  arbitrary  proceedings  and 
require  investigation  ;  a  court  of  slaves  themselves  corresponding  to 
a  justice's  court,  with  one  justice  and  two  assessors,  with  power  to 
call  juries  in  certain  cases ;  these  officers  to  be  chosen  from  the 
slaves,  and  by  the  slaves,  of  an  estate  or  contiguous  estates,  under  the 
power  of  veto  by  the  master  or  the  courts. 


107 

To  these  arrangements  among  the  slaves  themselves  there  might 
be  added  a  clerk  of  court,  by  appointment  of  the  masters,  whose 
business  it  should  be  to  record,  and  thus  make  valid  every  tri- 
bunitial  arrest  of  proceedings ;  to  attend  all  proceedings  of  the 
slave  courts,  and  make  record  with  authentication,  before  adjourn 
ment  —  at  once  in  security  that  the  proceedings  shall  not  be 
hasty  and  inconsiderate,  and  as  a  preparation  for  any  needful 
review. 

Some  of  these  suggestions  are  encouraged  by  experiments. 

"I  took,"  says  Mr.  Steele,  with  reference  to  his  estate  in  the 
Island  of  Barbadoes,  1783,  "the  whips,  and  all  power  of  arbi 
trary  punishment,  from  all  the  overseers  and  their  white  servants, 
which  occasioned  my  chief  overseer  to  resign,  and  I  soon  dismissed 
all  his  deputies  who  could  not  bear  the  loss  of  their  whips ;  but  at 
the  same  time,  that  a  proper  subordination  and  obedience  to  lawful 
orders  and  duties  should  be  preserved,  I  created  a  magistracy  out 
of  the  negroes  themselves,  and  appointed  a  court  or  jury  of  the 
elder  negroes  or  head  men,  for  trial  and  punishment  of  all  casual 
offences  ;  and  these  courts  were  always  to  be  held  in  my  presence,  or 
in  that  of  my  new  superintendent.  Seven  of  these  men,  being  of 
the  rank  of  drivers  in  their  different  departments,  were  also  consti 
tuted  rulers,  as  magistrates,  over  all  the  gang,  and  were  charged  to 
see  at  all  times  that  nothing  should  go  wrong  on  the  plantation ;  but 
that  on  all  necessary  occasions  they  should  assemble  and  consult 
together  how  any  such  wrong  should  be  immediately  rectified."  With 
these  arrangements  there  was  also  connected  a  system  of  rewards 
with  certain  amounts  of  labor.  With  reference  to  the  effect  of  the 
whole,  he  says :  — 

"A  plantation  of  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  acres  has 
been  governed  by  fixed  laws  and  a  negro  court,  for  about  five  years, 
with  great  success.  In  this  plantation,  no  overseer  or  white  servant 
is  allowed  to  lift  his  hand  against  a  negro,  nor  can  he  arbitrarily 
order  punishment.  Fixed  laws  and  a  court  or  jury  of  their  peers 
keep  all  in  order  without  the  ill  effect  of  sudden  and  intemperate 
passions."  * 

Mr.  M'Donough's  experiment  is  thus  given  by  Mr.  Sawtelle,  in 
his  letter  from  New  Orleans,  April  20,  1847,  published  in  the  New 
York  Observer,  July  31 :  — 

*  See  Clarkson's  "  Thoughts,"  &c. 


108 

"  The  slaves  are  organized  into  a  perfect  republic,  possessing  all 
the  elements  of  a  free,  legislative  government.  Their  trials  for 
misdemeanors  and  crimes  are  by  a  jury,  with  witnesses  examined 
and  special  pleadings,  with  all  the  solemnities  of  a  court.  In  im 
portant  and  difficult  cases,  the  old  master  is  called  in  to  preside  as 
judge,  and  to  decide  upon  some  difficult  point  of  law ;  but  the  ver 
dict,  sentence,  and  execution  are  all  in  their  own  hands." 

SECTION  VII. 
Franchises  and  Freedom. 

We  have  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  slavery,  ameliorated 
as  proposed,  is  a  virtual  freedom,  while  yet  the  essential  element 
of  slavery,  the  "  being  held  to  labor,"  is  retained  :  the  best  freedom 
for  the  slaves,  as  a  mass,  in  their  actual  circumstances  now,  and  for 
an  indefinite  future.  A  Remedial  Code  is  not  preparatory  to  eman 
cipation,  but  instead  of  it. 

Nevertheless,  there  may  be  supposed  admissible  in  the  progress 
of  amelioration,  first,  some  extension  of  franchises  to  those  remaining 
slaves ;  and  secondly,  an  opportunity  of  full  emancipation  to  such 
as  may  choose  it ;  thus  giving  to  all  some  share  in  providing  for 
their  social  well-being,  and  opening  the  path  for  individual  progress 
and  advancement. 

1.  The  franchises  of  the  mass  of  slaves,  remaining  slaves,  may  be 
extended,  if,  in  the  progress  of  amelioration,  the  way  should  be 
clear.     We  have  proposed  already  that  they  should  be  able  to  elect 
certain  magistrates  to  act  in  their  own  affairs.     To  this  may  come 
to  be  added,  on  their  possessing  a  certain  amount  of  property,  a 
right  of  voting    (j-us  sujfragii)  in  the  State,  by  means  of  slave 
"  Comitia ; "  their  votes  having  a  fractional  value  compared  with 
the  votes   of  the   free ;    perhaps   the   same   fraction   actively,   as 
now  passively,  in  the  United    States.      This    fractional  franchise 
might  be  limited  to  matters  in  which  their  own  well-being  is  spe 
cially  concerned. 

2.  There  should  le  open  to  all  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  full 
personal  freedom  ;  i.  e.,  the  entire  release  of  the  slave  from  being 
held  to  labor,  with  the  corresponding  release  of  the  master  from  the 
obligation  of  rations  and  privileges.    In  this  opportunity  there  may 


109 

be  a  two-fold  advantage,  viz.,  of  hope  and  exertion  in  those  who 
may  aspire  to  personal  freedom,  and  of  contentment  in  the  mass ; 
at  once  in  view  of  the  failure  of  advantage  to  those  becoming  free, 
and  the  still  open  way  to  those  who  may  choose  it.  Thus  it  is  well 
that  the  way  to  mercantile  and  commercial  enterprise  is  open  to  the 
whole  agricultural  community  of  the  North,  for  the  like  two-fold 
advantage  of  hope  and  exertion  on  the  one  hand,  and  contentment, 
with  the  settled  advantages  of  their  birthright  lot,  on  the  other. 

The  master  may  be  required  to  sell  at  a  fixed,  agreed,  arbi 
trated,  or  adjudicated  price ;  and  also  to  keep  an  open  account  with 
the  slave  preparatory  thereto ;  thus  incurring  a  debt  to  the  slave, 
available  to  fractional  parts  of  his  liberty  as  its  security,  and  to  full 
liberty  at  last.  In  like  manner,  all  debts  of  the  master  to  the  slave 
secured  on  his  person,  may,  for  lack  of  payment,  end  in  a  fraction 
or  the  whole  of  personal  liberty,  whether  desired  or  not. 

The  fractions  of  liberty  attained  might  be  registered  according  to 
law,  the  master  being  thereby  free  from  a  like  fraction  of  rations 
and  privileges  to  the  slave,  and  the  slave  being  then  entitled  to  the 
use  of  his  freed  time.  If  he  be  sold,Jt  must  be  under  the  reserva 
tion  of  his  partial  freedom. 

3.  Slaves  becoming  personally  free,  must  come  with  reference 
to  franchise  into  the  condition  of  their  class  in  the  States  where 
they  reside.  If  Massachusetts  had  now  slaves  to  be  freed,  they 
would  come  into  the  full  franchise  of  citizens ;  and  without  damage, 
if  the  class  remained  in  its  present  minute  proportion  to  the  whole 
people.  At  the  South,  they  must  come  into  the  actual  condition  of 
their  class,  and  without  the  franchise  of  citizens,  but  at  liberty  to 
remove,  or  to  remain  contented  with  their  lot,  awaiting  any  changes 
which  time  and  experience  may  suggest,  —  such  franchises,  for  in 
stance,  as  have  been  suggested  for  the  slaves  in  comitia  for  certain 
purposes,  and  communal,  wherever  they  may  form  separate  commu 
nities.  If  it  be  insisted  that  there  is  no  available  freedom  without 
full  citizenship,  it  may  be  replied  that  the  State  has  done  its  duty 
when  it  has  legislated  for  them,  though  not  by  them;  provided  their 
absolute  interests  have  been  duly  cared  for ;  and  if  their  position  is 
still  unsatisfactory,  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  withdraw  to  those 
States  where  full  franchise  is  allowed  ;  no  doubt  to  be  checked  and 
disfranchised  if  their  ingress  should  be  rapid  and  great :  the  sense 
10 


110 

of  the  North  being  now  and  then  proving  itself  against  free  soil  for 
large  proportions  of  the  African  race  in  their  midst. 

As  to  any  presumed  danger  that  the  numbers  of  the  free  would 
become  too  great  for  the  interests  of  labor,  and  of  course  of  the 
slaves  as  well  as  of  the  masters,  it  may  be  answered,  — 

Under  slavery  ameliorated,  with  families  established  and  pro 
tected  and  property  legalized,  there  must  be  expected  such  a  regard 
to  the  uses  of  property,  to  the  advantages  and  comforts  which  it 
adds  to  the  rations  and  privileges  of  slavery,  as  will  prevent  too 
numerous  purchasers  of  freedom.  And  this  regard  to  the  uses  of 
property  cannot  fail  to  be  enhanced,  by  the  observation  of  the  free 
as  being  often  in  worse  condition  than  those  remaining  in  slavery, 
and  enjoying  at  once  the  provisions  of  slavery  and  their  own  legal 
ized  property  beside.  The  present  free  blacks  at  the  South  may 
themselves  come  to  desire  the  ameliorated  slavery.  Besides,  if  there 
be  proper  "  methods  for  the  free,"  then  this  class  may  be  found 
more  and  more  fulfilling  their  part  in  every  department  of  labor, 
like  the  free  citizens  of  the  North ;  and  more  than  compensating 
any  deficiencies  caused  by  the  ameliorations  of  slavery. 


SECTION   VIII. 
The  Methods  for  the  Free. 

If  freedom  should  extend  to  any  considerable  numbers,  there 
would  then  be  imperiously  required  some  special  methods  for  the 
free,  by  which  their  own  welfare  might  be  the  better  aided  and 
secured,  as  well  as  that  of  the  other  portions  of  the  community. 
Indeed,  even  now,  at  the  North  and  at  the  South,  the  necessity  of 
some  special  methods  is  manifest ;  and  if  this  be  questionable  at  the 
North,  it  is  only  because  their  numbers  are  so  small.  Owing  to 
peculiarities  of  race  and  condition,  there  have  been  found  difficul 
ties  hitherto,  and  there  is  a  dread  of  any  considerable  increase  of 
the  class,  not  only  in  the  slave  States  and  the  free  States  adjoining, 
but  even  to  the  remotest  North.  And  these  difficulties  and  this 
dread  are  not  due  to  slavery  merely,  but  must  have  existed  if  the 
emigration  from  Africa  and  the  settlement  in  this  country  had  been 
free  from  the  first,  unless  prevented  by  the  wasting  of  the  African 
race  like  the  aboriginal  barbarians.  With  the  race  among  us,  and 


Ill 

with  experience  of  the  difficulties  belonging  to  them  as  free,  we 
seek  methods  suited  to  the  case. 

1.  Freed  slaves  may  be  required,  for  a  term  of  years  at  least,  to 
register  their  names,  occupations,  places  of  abode,  and  the  returns 
of  their  industry  up  to  a  certain  amount,  and  if  found  vagrant  and 
neglectful   may  be  compelled  to  labor.     As  the    State  must  take 
charge  of  free,  colored  pauperism,  in  lieu  of  the  former  masters,  so 
it  may  take  measures  to  prevent  it.    No  community  can  be  required 
to  confer  the  right  of  food,  raiment,  and  lodging,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  leave  the  right  of  idleness  and  vagrancy,  —  of  want,  to  be 
provided  for. 

2.  Under  the  above  regulation,  there  may  be  allowed  full  liberty 
of  settlement  and  employment. 

3.  Arrangements  in  aid  of  free  colored  people,  such  as  have  been 
spoken   of   in   regard   to   those    remaining  slaves,  are  desirable ; 
encouraging  the  acquisition  and  investment  of  property.     Methods 
of  acquisition  and  investment  should  be   provided  for  them. 

4.  The  above  being  understood,  —  that  they  are  to  have  full 
liberty  of  settlement  and  employment,  and  to  be  specially  aided 
and   encouraged   in   the  acquisition   and   investment  of  property, 
—  then,  fourthly,  the  employments  to  which  they  are  accustomed 
and  which  are  the  most  open  to  them,  are  to  be  chosen,  and  are  not 
to  be  forsaken,  without  definite  and  good  reason,  in  the  mere  hope 
of  changes  for  the  better,  any  more  with  them  than  with  the  white 
race  when  similarly  situated.     The  servile  employments  to  which 
so  many  of  them  have    been  accustomed,  are  good  employments 
whether  for  white  or  black,  whenever  useful  service  can  obtain  its 
reward.     If  they  be  "  low,"  it  is  better  to  continue  in  them  than  to 
make  premature  attempts  to  "  rise."     This  is  true  of  any  race  of 
people.     It  is  true  of  those   in   servile  employments  of  our  own 
people.      There  must  be  more  reason  for   the  assertion,  if  pecu 
liarities  of  origin,  character,  and  race   have  hitherto  consigned  the 
free  negroes  to  those  employments  ;  and  must  have  done  so,  if  their 
immigration  and  settlement  had  been  as  free  as  that  of  the  Saxon 
race.    Servile  employments  are  good  employments  when  God  orders 
them.     And  whoever  in  them,  of  whatever  race  or  color,  is  faithful, 
honest,  capable,  will  find  the  best  elements  of  well-being ;  and  through 
them,  not  in  shunning  them,  the  best  means  —  character,  friends, 
facilities  —  by  which  to  rise,  as  Providence  may  open  the  way,  to 


112 

those  higher  employments  to  which  multitudes  of  the  white  race 
never  attain. 

But  this  "rising"  to  higher  employments  is  not  the  thing  to 
be  desired.  In  large  communities  there  must  be  servile  employ 
ments  filled  by  those  whom  Providence  directs.  This  is  not  an 
unrighteous  state  of  society.  There  is  nothing  degrading  in  serv 
ing  others.  "  Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies."  There 
is  room,  even  in  enforced  service,  for  the  highest  excellence  and 
honor.  The  servants  of  men,  free  from  "  eye  service,"  and  "  serv 
ing  the  Lord  Christ,- with  singleness  of  heart  and  fearing  God, 

shall  receive  the  reward  of  the  inheritance." In    truth, 

remaining  for  the  most  part  as  they  are,'  in  their  accustomed 
employments,  they  will  find  themselves  the  happiest  and  most 
respected,  —  being  more  independent,  more  self-directing,  more 
useful  to  others,  and  more  capable  of  reaching  something  higher, 
than  if  they  were  specially  separated  from  lower  to  higher  employ 
ments.  In  order  to  be  qualified  for  much,  a  man  must  have 
been  faithful  in  that  which  is  little.  This  maxim  of  divine  wisdom, 
true  for  all,  must  be  more  deeply  true  of  a  race  in  degree  unim 
proved  and  barbarous.  It  is  false  charity  and  false  confidence, 
which  is  forever  underrating  servile  employments,  in  the  estimation 
of  those  who  are  found  in  them,  and  who  have  yet  to  prove  them 
selves  above  them.  .  .  .  Let  whoever  can,  by  his  own  exertions 
and  the  favor  of  Providence,  "  rise,"  whether  he  be  black  or  white  ; 
but  he  who  shall  "be  raised,"  without  his  own  skill  and  care,  and 
against  the  provisions  of  Providence,  will  but  sink  the  lower  for  the 
mistaken  pains,  whether  he  be  white  or  black.  Barbers,  shoe 
blacks,  and  waiters,  whether  white  or  black,  cannot  be  raised  by 
the  talk  or  hands  of  others ;  but  acting  their  part  well,  so  long  as 
they  must  act  it  at  all,  are  not  low,  not  debased,  not  unblessed,  but 
happy  and  honorable,  and  in  the  best  way  to  "  rise  "  to  any  worthy 
and  desirable  height. 

5.  This  claimed,  then,  let  there  be  every  facility  for  them  to  rise 
to  independent  and  leading  employments. 

(1.)  The  opportunity  of  advancement  to  leading  employments 
should  be  open  to  them  where  they  are,  as  we  have  claimed 
already  for  the  slaves,  remaining  slaves ;  to  do  any  thing  they 
prove  themselves  capable  of  doing,  however  great  the  charge  and 
responsibility;  and  in  proportion  to  their  fidelity  and  skill,  they 


113 

will  rise  in  respectability  and  usefulness,  without  let  or  hin- 
derance. 

(2.)  They  may  be  encouraged  by  "  bounties  "  and  wages  to  emi 
grate,  as  laborers  in  order  to  improve  their  condition,  becoming 
thus  free  substitutes  for  any  slaves  withdrawn  by  the  necessary 
checks  upon  sale.*  They  may  in  this  manner  be  well  provided  for, 
and  as  they  may  be  capable  and  successful,  find  leading  employ 
ments,  or  become  themselves  proprietors Of  course  the  way 

will  be  open,  as  now,  from  the  South  to  the  North,  if  they  prefer. 

(3.)  There  may  be,  also,  encouragements  and  facilities  for  form 
ing  free  colored  communities,  as  of  townships  or  counties,  in  which 
the  white  race  may  be  discouraged  from  settling,  in  such  wise  as 
to  secure  the  predominance  of  the  colored  race,  under  the  general 
laws  of  the  States  and  the  United  States.  Illustrating  this,  we 
have  the  account  of  a  colored  settlement  at  Carthagena,  Mercer 
county,  Ohio,  briefly  as  follows  :  f 

In  the  hope  of  bettering  their  own  condition  and  that  of  their 
children,  some  hundreds  left  their  servile  occupations  in  the  cities, 
bought  a  tract  of  land  thirty  miles  distant  from  the  source  of  their 
provisions.  Now  (1843)  they  have  many  thousand  acres  of  cleared 
land  and  comfortable  houses,  raise  their  own  provisions,  manufac 
ture  their  own  clothing,  have  horses,  hogs,  cattle,  and  sheep,  and 
meeting  houses  and  school  houses.  They  have  a  sawmill  and  grist 
mill.  The  white  people  respect  them  as  much  as  they  have  reason 
to  desire,  come  to  their  mills,  employ  their  mechanics,  and  are  em 
ployed  by  them  even  as  day  laborers ;  they  buy  and  sell  mutually. 

Should  such  separate  settlements  be  found  successful,  they  no  doubt 
might  be  extended  in  the  midst  of  the  white  population  living  con 
tiguously  on  terms  of  good  neighborhood,  and  with  mutual  advan 
tage  ;  and  the  new  regions  grow  with  colored  neighborhoods,  and 
villages,  and  townships  intermixed ;  and  wherever  there  were 
enough  to  form  corporate  bodies,  they  might  then  be  admitted  to 
such  communal  franchises  as  the  States  may  award  to  the  individu 
als  of  their  class. 

(4.)  A  principal  method  to  "  rise  "  must  be  emigration  to  Liberia, 
as  now  under  the  patronage  of  the  American  Colonization  Society. 

*  Compare  Section  3. 
f  New  York  Observer,  August  5,  1843. 
10* 


114 

This  method  may  be  presumed  good,  and  even  the  best  for  what 
ever  numbers  can  find  a  favorable  entrance  into  the  new  colony; 
for  whatever  numbers  may  favor  a  well-ordered  community,  and 
shall  not  outgrow  the  capacity  of  self-preservation  and  self-direction. 
For  limited,  indeed,  and  yet  for  increasing  numbers,  it  furnishes  an 
opportunity  at  once  for  full  franchises  and  all  the  employments  of 
social  life,  even  to  the  very  highest. 

Besides  the  direct  advantage  thus  afforded,  there  is  also  this  ad 
vantage  indirectly.  "In  large  communities  there  must  be  servile 
employments  filled  by  those  whom  Providence  directs."  There 
must  be  those  who  work,  as  well  as  those  who  direct  and  pay  for 
work.  The  more  Liberia  prospers  and  the  more  numerous  its 
population,  the  more  plain  will  it  become  that  it  furnishes  no  excep 
tion  to  the  common  lot  of  men  ;  the  more  will  it  appear  that  free 
dom  on  the  highest  scale,  that  entire  separation  from  the  evils  of 
slavery  and  from  the  prejudices  of  color,  does  not  reverse  the  mer 
ciful  as  well  as  just  doom,  —  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt 
eat  bread ;  that  no  more  in  Africa  than  in  America,  can  every  body 
have  high  office  and  high  place,  wealth,  and  ease,  and  honor ;  but 
that  the  mass  in  Africa,  as  well  as  America,  black  as  well  as  white, 
with  or  without  freedom,  is  still  "  held  to  labor,"  by  the  necessities  of 
human  condition,  and  by  no  act  of  man  ;  checking  a  thousand  foolish 
aspirations  of  and  for  the  African  race.  As  Liberia  prospers,  if  their 
condition  be  improved  in  some  great  essentials  of  human  well-being, 
it  must  still  become  known  in  this  country,  and  to  the  African  race, 
whether  bond  or  free,  that  the  toils  and  difficulties  of  mortal  life, 
and  the  distinctions  even  of  masters  and  servants,  are  there  as  well 
as  here  ;  that  these  are  not  the  doom  of  slavery  but  of  man  —  pre 
paring  their  acquiescence  in  that  ameliorated  slavery  for  which  we 
plead ;  retaining  only  the  indispensable  elements  of  being  "  held  to 
labor,"  and  to  maintain  labor  —  loosing  the  bad  bonds,  and  retain 
ing  only  the  good. 


115 


CONCLUSION. 

LET  it  be  supposed  that  these  ameliorations,  prompted  by  the 
Southern  States  themselves,  and  by  whatever  suggestions,  are  faith 
fully  attempted,  —  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  thus  far 
remaining,  that  the  master  is  still  "  held "  to  provide  rations  and 
privileges,  and  the  slave  still  "  held  to  labor,"  by  which  alone 
provision  can  be  made ;  marriage  established  in  its  sacredness,  and 
the  domestic  relations  protected ;  education  and  religious  worship 
provided  for ;  the  slaves  legally  capable  of  acquiring,  holding  and 
transmitting  property,  and  equally  with  their  masters  under  the 
protection  of  the  law  ;  and  all  these  with  opportunities  of  freedom, 
and  methods  for  the  free,  and  we  have  then  a  Remedial  Code  in 
progress  and  perfecting  by  experience,  suited  to  the  whole  case  of 
Africa  in  America.  We  claim  by  such  a  code, 

That  the  well-being  of  the  slaves  is  provided  for  —  that  they  are 
virtually  free ;  and  in  view  of  the  actual  condition  of  their  race, 
more  free  than  with  the  whole  franchise  of  American  citizens ; 
better  provided  for  all  the  purposes  of  personal  and  domestic  life, 
than  by  any  general  emancipation  ;  and  in  most  cases,  than  by 
individual  purchase  at  the  sacrifice  of  property  legally  their  own. 

That  the  well-being  of  the  masters  is  provided  for :  the  climate 
and  productions  of  the  South,  and  the  original  and  actual  condition 
of  the  enslaved  race,  and  long-established  customs  and  habits  contin 
uing  for  substance  the  present  relations  of  property  and  labor,  — 
of  masters  to  be  honored  and  servants  to  honor,  with  the  advantage 
of  greater  cheerfulness  and  fidelity  ;  to  the  master's  joy,  more  and 
ever  more,  in  proportion  as  bad  bonds  are  loosed  and  good  bonds 
only  retained, 

We  claim,  also,  for  the  free  negroes,  a  progressive  deliverance 
from  whatever  real  evils  inherited  from  Africa  or  America,  and 
blessings  in  proportion  to  the  blessings  of  the  class  from  which  they 
have  sprung ;  becoming  more  industrious  and  thriving  in  the  midst 
of  a  thriving  and  industrious  peasantry,  and  accepting  diligent  labor 
as  the  best  lot  of  freeman  or  slave  ;  whether  where  they  are,  or,  if 
they  will,  and  when  they  will,  in  the  land  of  their  fathers,  blessing 
Africa  itself  in  the  Christian  industry  of  her  returning  sons. 

We  claim,  also,  that  in  this  direction,  the  conscience  and  philan- 


116 

thropy,  of  the  country  have  fullest,  freest  scope ;  not  in  instant 
remedy  of  all  evils,  but  in  just  application  of  the  great  Christian 
law,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself;"  meeting  property 
and  labor,  slave-holders  and  slaves,  in  their  mutual  necessities  and 
ills,  —  the  suffering  "  neighbor "  on  our  path  not  to  pass  by  with 
indifference,  cruelty,  and  scorn,  nor  yet  with  aimless  wrangles  while 
we  help  him  not;  but  with  the  "oil  and  wine"  suited  to  his 
wounds ;  with  the  very  care  he  needs,  according  to  our  power  ;  sup 
plying  the  present  and  providing  for  the  future  with  generous 
arrangements  and  faithful  promises. 

Nor  need  we  despair  of  results  so  great.  Whether  in  view  of 
intrinsic  or  extrinsic  difficulties  —  of  the  essential  evils  of  Africa  in 
America,  or  of  reproachful  zeal  and  discordant  good-will,  and  even 
political  anarchy  in  the  strife  of  equal  forces,  we  may  still  assume, 
.  TJie  things  which  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible  with  God. 
Not  that  we  expect  miracles  to  be  wrought,  or  set  forth  our  hope 
confessed  an  enthusiastic  dream.  Rather  do  we  claim  that  the 
whole  work  of  utmost  difficulty  is  within  the  scope  of  a  common 
Providence,  answering  the  prayers  and  aiding  the  humble  attempts 
of  men ;  not  as  in  the  exodus  from  Egypt,  by  the  miracles  of  the 
divided  sea,  and  manna  from  the  skies ;  but  as  in  the  deliverance 
from  Babylon,  by  the  aids  of  a  common  Providence,  answering  the 
prayers  of  the  captives  and  blessing  the  purposes  of  men ;  opening 
"  the  two-leaved  gates,"  and  breaking  in  sunder  the  "  bars  of  iron," 
yet  as  gloriously  "  with  a  strong  hand,  and  an  outstretched  arm." 


117 

POSTSCRIPT  Dec.  15. 

The  contest  for  Speaker  illustrating  the  law  of  equal  forces.* 

THE  necessity  of  some  new  direction  in  regard  to  the  question 
of  American  slavery,  was  never  more  manifest  than  this  very  day : 
the  United  States  giving  the  maximum  of  illustration  of  their  utter 
impotence,  under  the  inviolable  law  of  equal  forces.  If  while  we 
write,  or  at  some  indefinite  future,  a  minute  preponderance  shall 
turn  the  scale,  and  our  government  be  organized  again,  how  plainly 
the  law  of  equal  forces  will  remain,  producing  impotence  again,  with 
only  intervals  of  minute  and  momentary  preponderance  ;  removing 
the  question  of  slavery  in  every  form  from  the  National  Legislature, 
arid  calling  for  the  creation  of  new  powers  for  new  purposes,  out 
of  impotence  itself.  Instead  of  being  shut,  the  way  of  wisdom 
and  kindness  will  only  be  the  more  open  to  philanthropist  and  patri 
arch,  by  the  assurance  that  nothing  can  be  done  by  authority  and 
power.  Instead  of  being  open,  the  way  will  only  be  the  more 
shut,  by  equibalanced  attempts  at  authority  and  power.  .  .  . 

As  hitherto,  after  every  struggle  for  sectional  preponderance,  the 
great  questions  between  the  North  and  the  South  must  take  their 
necessary  settlement  neither  for  the  South  against  the  North,  nor 
for  the  North  against  the  South,  but  leaving  each  to  their  own 
will  and  their  own  responsibility.  The  great  Overruler  has  so 
nearly  equibalanced  them  that  neither  section  can  prevail  over  the 
other.  We  may  try  to  make  the  weight  heavier  on  either  arm 
of  the  balance,  but  the  scales  will  declare  the  truth,  the  moment 
our  hand  is  taken  off.  However  many  may  be  the  librations,  the 
scale  must  at  length  settle  on  the  unalterable  principles  of  equi 
poise.  We  may  quarrel  over  an  impossibility,  but  we  cannot  coun 
tervail  it.  As  from  the  beginning  useless  strife  must  still  give  way 
to  leaving  matters  as  they  were,  - — ineffectual  and  injurious  con 
tention  to  the  necessary  agreement  to  differ. 

This- last  struggle,  essentially  in  vain,  will  not  be  in  vain,  if  it 
teach  the  country  the  truth  forever  illustrated  by  baffled  attempts 
to  overrule,  on  the  one  side  or  the  other ;  that  God  has  so  settled 
the  equilibrium  of  sections,  that  there  can  never  be  an  overruling 

*  See  Chapter  10. 


118 

North,  or  an  overruling  South ;  and  if  it  be  felt  to  the  very  heart 
of  North  and  South,  that  their  only  strength  in  the  even-bal 
anced  scale  is  in  impotence  acknowledged  ;  in  "  vis  inertia  "  made 
available  by  wisdom  and  good  will  as  a  reservoir  of  beneficent 
power.  The  two  great  sections  may  influence  and  aid,  they  can 
not  direct  and  control  each  other.  The  labors  wasted  in  useless, 
baneful  strife,  are  sufficient  to  raise  a  "  power  "  which  can  work 
blessings  over  all  the  land.  Repeating  from  the  preceding  pages, 
"  Northern  philanthropy  will  do  its  utmost,  not  by  authority  where 
no  authority  exists,  not  by  an  imperative  balance  where  there  is 
an  essential  equipoise,  but  without  authority,  and  notwithstanding 
impotence,  whenever  it  shall  unite  an  available  wisdom  to  fraternal 
good  will." 


DEDICATION. 


December,  1856. 

In  the  Postscript  to  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  December  15, 
1855,  when  the  contest  for  "  Speaker"  was  but  just  begun,  I  found 
the  United  States  giving  the  maximum  of  illustration  of  their  utter 
impotence  under  the  inviolable ' law  of  equal  forces;  and  claimed 
that  only  a  minute  preponderance  could  turn  the  scale,  that 
impotence  would  recur  again  and  again,  —  removing  the  question 
of  Slavery  in  every  form  from  the  National  Legislature,  and 
calling  for  new  powers,  for  new  purposes,  out  of  impotence  itself. 

That  contest  ended  after  many  long  weeks  in  giving  the  "  Speaker" 
to  the  North,  in  antagonism  to  the  South  ;  but  with  a  preponderance 
so  minute  as  only  to  make  more  plain  the  law  which  had  been 


119 


transgressed ;  with  no  working  faculty  ;  with  no  available  power 
to  give  form  to  intention,  to  change  purpose  to  enactment ;  with 
no  majesty  of  enforcement  to  give  existence  and  stability  to  law ; 
impotent  to  the  great  work  of  sectional  control,  and  only  fore 
showing  and  preparing  the  counter-vibration  of  the  equi-balanced 
ecale. 

Accordingly,  despite  the  utmost  efforts  to  maintain  and  increase 
the  preponderance,  —  to  give  weight  to  the  Northern  arm  of  the 
balance,  —  the  scale  has  turned  again ;  yet  not  less  plainly  than 
before,  with  no  decisive  preponderance,  reasserting  and  reassuring 
the  law  of  equal  forces,  which  neither  Section  is  able  to  reverse. 
The  Presidential  election  of  November  4th,  1856,  was  the  con 
summation  of  proof  that  God  has  settled  the  equilibrium  of  Sections, 
so  that  there  can  never  be  an  overruling  North  or  an  overruling 
South ;  *  —  that  impotence  is  the  only  strength  in  the  even-balanced 
scale,  the  only  element  of  beneficent  power. 

At  the  same  time  what  fearful  illustration  have  we  had  of  the 
miserable  strifes  of  those  whom  God  has  joined  together  in  essen 
tial  equality, —  so  much  the  more  miserable  because  they  can 
neither  conquer  nor  separate,  —  threatening  the  lasting  curse  of  the 
European  race,  with  only  evil  to  the  African,  who  is  the  subject  of  the 
strife.  So  it  happens,  sometimes,  in  that  best  and  earliest  society, 
from  which  all  society  springs,  —  the  family.  The  very  elements  of 
equal,  inseparable  and  blessed  union,  render  the  life  of  the  parties 


*  It  may  be  asked,  Does  not  the  laic  of  equal  forces  produce  the  same  impotence 
to  prevent  even  the  revival  of  the  slave  trade,  with  all  its  essential  wrong,  and  all 
its  voluntary  accessions  of  enormity  ?  Undoubtedly  it  does, —  unless  the  forces  shall 
refuse  in  that  case  to  be  equal.  You  can  make  a  power  with  the  long  arm  of  your 
lever,  but  you  can  make  none  when  both  arms  are  equivalent.  But,  inviolable  as  is 
the  law  of  equal  forces,  with  regard  to  the  existing  fact  of  slavery,  I  deny  that  it 
does  or  can  have  place  in  regard  to  the  renewal  of  the  slave  trade.  If  it  were  pos 
sible  to  suppose  that  the  suggestions  of  a  Southern  governor  and  of  Southern  journals, 
which  have  just  now  startled  the  public  mind,  should  venture  to  ask  enactment  and 
enforcement  from  the  United  States,  —  a  living  unity  only  by  the  provisional  aboli 
tion  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  life-giving  instrument  itself,  —  the  same  causes  which 
in  1787  united  North  and  South,  would  be  effectual  again,  only  in  tenfold  greater 
power.  The  monitions  of  conscience,  in  regard  to  palpable  and  undeniable  wrong, 
ruling  the  South  as  well  as  the  North,  —  urged  by  the  whole  conscience  and  hu 
manity  of  the  Christian  world,  —  would  supply  a  force  immeasurably  greater  to 
prevent  the  renewal,  than  there  was  to  bring  to  pass  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade. 


120 

only  more  wretched,  because  they  can  neither  rule  nor  part,  while 
ruin  befalls  the  house  which  each  is  engaged  to  sustain. 

Under  the  deepest  sense  of  these  lessons  and  forewarnings  of  the 
year  now  drawing  to  its  close,  I  dedicate  this  work  to-day 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES, 

THE   WHOLE   PEOPLE, 
E     PLURIBUS     UNUM. 

United  by  separation ;  powerful  over  the  parts  by  impotence 
as  a  whole  ;  weak  in  authority  and  power,  strong  by  example  and 
influence  ;  ruling  by  not  ruling ;  —  the  foundations  of  the  Pyramid 
on  which  the  eye  of  Heaven  has  looked  from  the  beginning,  made 
firmer  by  every  addition  to  its  weight. 

May  the  vibrations  of  the  even-balanced  scale,  in  the  year  1856, 
consummating  the  proof  of  the  weakness  of  Sections  against  each 
other,  and  of  their  strength  only  for  and  with  each  other,  inaugurate 

A    NEW    ERA, 

in  which  the  whole  wisdom  of  our  history  as  one  people,  —  great, 
undivided,  indivisible,  —  shall  prevail  in  councils  and  methods  in 
regard  to  Southern  slavery,  as  acceptable  to  the  South  as  to  the 
North,  and  as  advantageous  to  the  African  as  the  European  race, 
in  their  mysterious  relations  to  each  other. 


121 


REYIEW 

OF  THE   DECISION   OF  THE   SUPREME  COURT  IN  THE  CASE  OF 
DRED  SCOTT. 

IN  attempting  a  review  of  this  decision,  on  which  views  so  oppo 
site  are  entertained  by  two  great  political  parties,  the  writer  does 
not  propose  to  become  a  partisan  himself.  His  work,  springing  up 
from  the  germ  of  1820,*  and  growing  and  maturing  until  1856,  can 
have  had  no  connection  with  the  present  times,  and  cannot  apply 
itself  to  the  advocacy  of  any  party  without  leaving  its  original  and 
better  position  as  the  earnest  advocate  of  principles  and  methods  in 
which  it  behooves  the  wise  and  good  of  all  parties  to  unite  ;  equally 
suited  to  the  philanthropic  purposes  declared  by  the  anti-slavery 
North  and  to  the  patriarchal  intentions  which  shall  best  provide  for 
both  races  in  the  slave-holding  and  slave-held  South.  It  is,  then,  in 
the  hope  of  rendering  some  service  in  closing  the  strife,  and  not  as  a 
party  in  it,  that  we  propose  to  apply  the  principles  of  this  work  to 
the  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  for  the  high  purpose  expressed 
in  closing  the  advertisement  of  the  fourth  edition,  viz. :  "  To  engage 
the  South  in  their  proper  work  in  behalf  of  the  African  race,  and  to 
unite  the  North  in  taking  the  only  position  in  which  they  can  render 
effectual  as  well  as  acceptable  aid." 

In  brief,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  affirms  the 
Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri  declaring  Dred  Scott 
a  slave,  on  the  agreed  case  that  he  had  been  formerly  a  slave  under 
the  laws  of  that  State,  and  that  his  plea  for  freedom  was  insufficient 
—  the  Decision  being  incidentally  affirmed,  on  the  ground  of  want 
of  jurisdiction.  This  is  the  simple  point,  and  for  our  purpose  noth 
ing  else  need  be  stated. 

Keeping  in  view  the  principles  and  design  of  this  work,  not  only 
its  claim  of  well-being  as  the  true  aim  for  the  African  race,  but  our 
whole  National  condition,  we  say  distinctly  and  solemnly,  without 
reference  to  the  arguments  employed  by  the  Court,  The  Result 

*  P.  16. 
11 


122 

reached  was  utterly  and  absolutely  indispensable ,  viz. :  that  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case. 
This  Decision  was  more  a  necessity  of  Providence,  of  HIM  by 
whom  the  "powers  that  be"  are  ordained,  than  an  act  at  its  own 
discretion  as  the  interpreters  of  the  Constitution.  The  question  at 
issue  was  not  a  National  but  a  State  question,  by  the  very  ordi 
nances  of  Heaven,  which  made  us  at  once  separate  States  and  a 
United  Nation,  and  which,  upon  the  special  question  of  slavery, 
have  so  balanced  section  against  section,  as  to  neutralize  the  power 
of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the  reversal  of  a  Decision  of  a  State 
Court  made  on  their  providential  inheritance.  With  neither  au 
thority  to  reverse,  nor  power  to  enforce  a  reversal,  non-interference 
became  a  necessity  of  Providence. 

The  necessities  which  made  the  Constitution,  the  elements  of 
State  and  National  authority  and  power,  do  not  depend  upon,  cannot 
be  set  aside  by,  the  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings  of  the  hour. 
They  were,  in  all  their  living  force,  in  all  their  strength  of  causa 
tion,  before  either  the  Convention  which  attempted  to  abolish,  or 
the  Convention  which  restored  and  defined  the  Central  and  Sov 
ereign  Unity  of  the  still  separate  and  Sovereign  States,  and  before 
the  sectional  balance  had  revealed  itself,  as  the  necessary  result  of 
differences  of  climate  and  productions,  and  of  common  channels  of 
intercourse  and  commerce  —  itself  a  determined  element  in  "  the 
powers  that  be."  The  elements  which  make  the  Constitution  may 
be  questioned,  denied,  denounced,  but  they  cannot  be  annihilated, 
cannot  be  deprived  of  their  living  and  causative  strength,  of  their 
resulting  force.  Still  it  will  be  true,  in  the  very  elements  of  our 
existence,  by  wThich  we  are  Sovereign  States  and  the  Sovereign 
United  States,  that  we  have  no  authority  to  annul  laws  and  cus 
toms  existing  in  the  several  States,  when  we  perfected  in  form  our 
virtual  Unity ;  and  as  true  that  we  have  no  power  to  do  it  in  the 
matter  of  Southern  slavery,  numerical  majorities  in  fact  or  anticipa 
tion  notwithstanding.  To  this  end,  there  are  no  "  powers  that  be." 
God  has  not  ordained  them.  They  may  be  asserted,  argued, 
boasted,  but  they  do  not  exist,  and  cannot  rule.  If  there  be  wrongs, 
requiring  redress,  in  matters  essentially  belonging  to  each  Sovereign 
State  when  our  Sovereign  Unity  took  its  form,  they  are  wrongs 
beyond  the .  legislative  and  judicial  authority  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  the  matter  of  slavery  beyond  their  power.  Whatever  might 


123 

be  the  intrinsic  merits  of  this  case  —  however  gross  the  wrong  by 
the  State  Court  —  the  United  States  had  neither  authority  nor  power 
to  redress  it.  The  responsibility  was  of  the  part,  and  not  of  the 
whole,  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  not  of  the  United  States. 

As  to  the  impotence  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  a  contrary 
decision  of  the  Court,  let  the  following  suppositions  be  made,  viz. :  — 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  the  Court  had  taken  jurisdiction,  and  had 
decreed  the  freedom  of  Dred  Scott,  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  reversing  the  Decision  of  the  "Supreme  Court  of  Missouri :  — 

Let  it  be  supposed  further,  as  the  natural  result,  that  thereupon 
every  similar  case  should  make  claim  to  the  same  freedom,  en 
couraged  and  aided  by  the  whole  earnest  philanthropy  of  the  North  ; 
and  that  one  thousand,  ten  thousand,  a  hundred  thousand,  for  whom 
a  like  plea  might  be  made,  should  demand  their  freedom  from  the 
Courts  of  the  United  States,  and  should  become  actually,  as  well  as 
virtually,  free :  — 

Let  it  be  further  supposed,  that  the  owners  of  slaves,  thus  deprived 
of  their  property,  as  under  the  laws  of  their  several  States,  and 
thousands  more,  finding  their  domestics  rendered  utterly  unavailable 
for  some  of  the  most  important  services  required  by  the  well-being 
of  families,  should  make  common  cause  against  a  decision  so  sweep 
ing,  and  in  their  view  so  unjust,  and  should  refuse  to  obey  until  the 
United  States  should  enforce  the  decree  :  — 

And  let  it  be  supposed  once  more,  that  the  States  themselves  — 
one  state  or  more  —  adhering  to  their  own  laws  and  their  own 
Courts,  should  protect  and  defend  their  own  citizens  against  the 
Decision  of  the  United  States  Court,  —  thus  requiring  the  strong 
arm  of  power  to  enforce  the  decision. 

The  question  is  not  now,  whether  the  United  States,  as  a  whole, 
can  enforce  a  decision  against  a  single  individual,  or  a  single  State, 
but  whether  it  can  enforce  a  decision  which,  in  its  issues,  unites  the 
whole  South  against,  though  it  were,  the  whole  North,  on  this  great 
sectional  question,  against  the  resolved  resistance,  or  even  against 
the  resolved  inaction,  of  the  South.  In  this  case  it  is  not  thirty 
against  one,  in  which  the  common  consent  of  the  thirty  can  over 
rule  the  one,  but  sixteen  against  fifteen,  who  have  compensatory 
advantages  against  a  nominal  majority.  Must  not  the  difficulty  of 
executing  annul  any  decree  which  depends  on  such  an  equipoise  of 
power  ?  There  can  be  no  available  decree,  no  ruling  precedent  of 


124 

the  highest  court  in  the  land,  unless  it  is  sustained  by  the  highest 
power  in  the  land,  and  by  the  common  sentiment  of  the  people,  by 
which  that  power  alone  can  exist.  A  decision  unenforced  and  unen 
forceable  is  as  futile,  as  much  a  dead  letter,  as  an  unenforced  and  un 
enforceable  law,  —  dead  it  may  be  by  anticipation,  dead  it  must  be  in 
its  result,  however  it  may  cling  to  life.  A  sectional  decision  of  the 
United  States  Court  against  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  South,  as  to 
its  rights  and  duties,  how  can  it  be  a  living  and  ruling  decision  ? 
What  array  of  the  United  States,  half  against  half,  can  give  it  vital 
ity  and  force  ?  When  Congress  shall  undertake  to  provide  the 
munitions  and  the  men  for  sectional  enforcement,  what  power  will  it 
find  adequate  to  enforce  ? 

In  that  day  of  equi-balanced  strife,  of  those  librations  of  the  scale 
which  betray  the  minuteness  of  alternate  preponderance,  will  not 
its  power  be  the  impersonation  of  impotence  itself?  That  great 
Entity,  the  United  States,  resistless,  overwhelming,  when  against 
the  single  individual  or  state,  what  force  will  it  have  when  it  is  so 
equally  balanced  as  to  give  no  determinate  preponderance  ?  That 
mountain  rock,  which  would  crush  thousands  in  its  fall  —  when  it  is 
balanced  on  itself,  you  may  put  your  finger  under  it  and  be  unharmed. 

The  impotence  of  a  power  so  mighty,  the  non-entity  almost  of  an 
Entity  so  august,  has  ample  illustration  in  the  preceding  pages. 
And  with  reference  to  the  instance  in  question  —  to  the  power  to 
overrule  the  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri,  and 
give  freedom  to  Dred  Scott,  to  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  Dred  Scotts  —  the  power  of  its  presumed  librations  — 
we  need  but  shape  our  questions  to  those  illustrations  to  make  them 
unanswerable.  When,  then,  the  question  of  enforcement  to  the 
supposed  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  affecting  the  interests 
and  self-approved  rights  of  the  whole  South,  shall  come  before  the 
whole  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  —  to  provide  for  sec 
tional  enforcement  —  munitions  and  men  against  munitions  and 
men,  arisen  or  threatening  to  arise,  —  what  overruling  power  will  be 
found  in  that  all-powerful  and  sovereign  Entity,  the  United  States  ? 
What  can  that  equi-balanced  assembly  do,  but  react  the  impotent 
librations  —  the  struggle  and  the  weakness  of  equal  forces,  the 
powerless  days  and  weeks  which  preceded  the  election  of  a  sec 
tional  speaker  to  the  thirty -fourth  Congress  ?  —  ending,  if  days  and 
weeks,  instead  of  months  and  years,  could  end  it,  "  with  no  working 


125 

faculty,  with  no  available  power  to  give  form  to  intention,  to 
change  purpose  to  enactment  —  with  no  majesty  of  enforcement 
to  give  power  and  stability  to  law,  —  impotent  to  the  work  of  sec 
tional  control,  and  only  foreshowing  the  counter-libration  of  the 
equi-balanced  scale."  * 

In  requiring  the  Decision  of  the  Court,  from  the  necessities 
which  produced  and  would  reproduce  the  Constitution,  rather  than 
from  the  direct  interpretation  of  that  instrument,  we  give  the  high 
est  possible  encomium  to  the  Constitution  itself,  if  indeed  it  is  the 
actual  counterpart  to  those  historical  facts  which  make  this  nation 
what  it  is,  E  PLURIBUS  UNUM  ;  which  give  it  its  distinct  and  vigor 
ous  unity,  and  its  distinct  and  vigorous  plurality.  At  the  same 
time  we  give  the  best  justification  of  the  Decision  of  the  Court,  if, 
indeed,  as  is  averred  by  its  opponents,  it  contradicts  previous  de 
cisions  of  the  same  Court,  and  even  of  the  very  same  judges 
themselves. 

" 

No  doubt,  precedents,  decisions  of  Courts  of  law,  have  a  ruling 
effect,  and  will  rule  until  from  valid  reasons  they  are  themselves 
overruled.  It  is  not  merely  by  judicial  decisions  upon  the  applica 
tion  of  laws  and  their  correspondence  with  constitutional  principles, 
that  Constitutions  are  illustrated  and  perfected ;  but  as  truly  by 
decisions  correcting  decisions,  whenever,  in  the  progress  of  events, 
it  may  be  plain  that  great  principles  have  been  transgressed.  Thus 
the  necessities  which  produced  the  Constitution  have  required  from 
the  first,  and  will  hereafter  require,  corrections  of  previous  decisions, 
in  order  to  preserve  Constitutional  consistency,  and  this  without 
making  the  Constitution  the  mere  organ  of  uncertainty ;  for  each 
new  correction  can  take  its  place  as  a  reliable  precedent,  only  by 
conformity  to  the  great  principles  which  originated  the  Constitution ; 
—  new  necessities  and  new  providences  only  making  more  plain  its 
original  and  fixed  principles  ;  the  written  formula  being  only  better 
understood  and  applied  in  the  progress  of  that  course  of  events  in 
which  as  well  as  from  which  it  took  its  rise. 

So  it  is  with  the  British  Constitution.  Neither  Magna  Charta 
nor  the  Bill  of  Rights,  nor  both,  form  absolutely  the  British  Con 
stitution,  but  those  immortal  documents  along  with  the  whole  juris 
diction  of  the  hundreds  of  years  which  preceded,  and  have  followed 

*  P.  119. 
11* 


126 

them  until  now,  —  establishing  yet,  not  Constitutional  uncertainty, 
but  more  and  more  Constitutional  certainty ;  precedents  at  once 
developing  and  fixing  the  principles  of  the  documents  themselves. 
Our  written  Constitution  of  1788,  in  like  manner,  has  been  subject 
to  the  course  of  events  —  to  the  necessities  which  time  has  made 
plain  —  to  the  decisions  of  that  great  Chief  Justice  who  for  thirty 
years  explained  it  as  cases  occurrent  made  it  plain  to  himself;  and 
of  his  assessors  and  successors  on  the  Bench,  leaving  with  a  mass 
of  wise  decisions  which  require  no  change,  some  which  their  own 
lifetime  may  have  enabled  them  to  correct,  and  some  to  be  corrected 
as  the  application  of  great  principles  should  be  made  plain  —  not 
changing  the  Constitution,  and  making  it  nothing  more  than  the 
opinion  of  the  Court  for  the  time  being,  but  developing  it  more 
and  more  by  decisions  indispensable  to  its  essential  and  necessary 
principles,  —  to  Constitutional  consistency. 

The  question  is  immaterial,  then,  whether  the  present  decision 
does  or  does  not  contradict  some  former  decision.  We  are  not 
learned  in  the  "  cases,"  nor  have  we  sought  out  the  precedents.  For 
aught  we  know  or  care  to  know,  they  may  be  right  who  assert  that 
in  the  case  of  Dred  Scott,  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  against 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  Chief  Justice  Taney  against  Chief  Justice 
Taney.  The  only  question  is,  Is  this  present  decision  required  by 
the  necessities  which  originated  the  Constitution, —  by  the  progressive 
development  of  Constitutional  principles,  —  by  Constitutional  con 
sistency  ?  If  it  be,  it  is  right,  and  witt  stand  and  rule  hereafter, 
establishing  what  are  the  "  powers  that  be,"  against  whatever  legis 
lation  and  judicial  decisions  to  the  contrary. 

What  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  Constitution  ?  Is  it  nothing 
but  the  decision  of  the  judges  on  the  Bench,  as  uncertain  and  con 
tradictory  as  may  be  the  conflicting  decisions  of  the  Courts  ?  Have 
we  deceived  ourselves  in  the  airy  vision  of  the  Constitution,  when 
indeed  there  was  no  Constitution  at  all  ?  no  standard,  to  which  all 
acts  of  legislation,  and  all  judicial  decisions,  must  conform  ?  As 
well  might  it  be  asked,  after  hundreds  of  years,  What  is  Magna 
Charta?  Is  it  nothing  real  and  substantial,  because  it  has  been 
almost  seven  hundred  years  under  the  same  conditions  of  develop 
ment  and  growth,  as  our  "  Constitution "  for  seventy  ?  so  enduring 
and  vet  unsubstantial  ?  but  an  airy  vision  to  the  sight  ?  On  the 
other  hand,  its  substantial  existence  is  only  more  assured  by  its 


127 

development  and  growth,  until  better  understood  and  more  truly 
applied,  in  proportion  as  the  mistakes  of  Parliaments  and  Courts 
have  been  corrected,  it  has  become  the  standard  of  all  laws  and  all 
judgments,  the  deep-rooted  and  wide-spread  "  Oak  "  of  the  British 
Constitution.  In  like  manner  our  Constitution,  the  offshoot  and  the 
growth  of  Magna  Charta  in  the  New  World,  is  not  a  shadow  and  a 
vision,  but  a  reality  and  a  substance,  more  and  still  more,  because  it 
is  illustrated  and  extended  by  the  decisions  of  the  Courts ;  by  pre 
cedents  which  remain,  because  they  are  the  growth  and  maturity  of 
the  Constitution  itself — becoming  more  and  more  the  deep-rooted 
and  wide-spread  Magna  Charta  of  the  New  World. 

The  Decision  being  thus  required  as  indispensable  by  the  very 
elements  of  our  National  existence,  without  regard  to  the  arguments 
employed  by  the  Court  on  the  Constitution  itself,  it  is  yet  important 
to  notice  the  phrase  in  that  argument  which  has  been  subject  to  so 
much  obloquy  and  denunciation,  as  denying  to  the  whole  African 
race  all  the  claims  of  humanity  and  justice,  viz. :  "  That  they  had 
no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  This  phrase, 
broad  as  it  is,  is  not  without  its  limitation,  in  the  argument  itself ; 
for  certainly  some  rights  are  implied,  and  a  technical  and  not  general 
character  of  the  obnoxious  expression  is  required  by  the  clauses, 
p.  425,  "  We  are  by  no  means  prepared  to  say  that  there  are  not 
many  cases,  civil  as  well  as  criminal,  in  which  a  Circuit  Court  of 
the  United  States  may  exercise  jurisdiction,  although  one  of  the 
African  race  is  a  party.  The  question  with  which  we  are  now 
dealing  is,  whether  a  person  of  the  African  race  can  be  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  become  thereby  entitled  to  a  special  privi 
lege."  Even  though  thus  guarded,  it  may  be  to  be  regretted  that  a 
phrase  so  sweeping  should  have  been  used  at  all,  even  technically  ^ 
and  historically,  as  it  plainly  was.  Certainly  the  use  that  has  been 
made  of  it,  as  if  its  meaning  were  general  and  not  technical,  contem 
porary  and  not  historical,  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  because  it 
denounces  not  the  fact  belonging  to  the  bench,  but  the  fiction  belong 
ing  to  the  denouncers.  For  whatever  be  the  meaning  of  the  phrase, 
technical  or  general,  most  surely  it  is  not  used  as  expressing  the 
views  of  the  Court  or  of  the  present  day,  but  with  the  utmost  dis 
tinctness,  historically,  of  the  times  when  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  was  made  and  the  Constitution  formed,  but  requiring  to 
be  considered  hi  order  to  a  right  understanding  of  those  instruments. 


128 

Indeed,  so  far  from  using  the  obnoxious  phrase,  as  expressing  the 
opinion  of  the  Court,  the  Chief  Justice  implicitly,  if  not  explicitly, 
disavows  it  for  the  Court  and  the  present  day.  "  It  is  difficult,"  he 
says,  "  at  this  day  to  realize  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  relation 
to  that  unfortunate  race,  which  prevailed  in  the  civilized  and  en 
lightened  portions  of  the  world  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  when  the  Constitution  was  formed ;  but  the  public 
history  of  every  European  nation  displays  it  in  a  manner  too  plain 
to  be  mistaken."  *  Again :  "  No  one,  we  presume,  supposes  that 

"a**-"~-""1*-«^J^« -^.^  '      I      III!       II    II  III'        '""""• """H 

any  change  in  public  opinion  or  feeling  in  relation 'to  this  unfor-  J 
tunate  race,  in  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe  or  in  this  country,  / 
should  induce  the  Court  to  give  to  the  words  of  the  Constitution  a 
more  liberal  construction  in  their  favor  than  they  were  intended  to 
bear  when  the  instrument  was  framed  and  adopted.  If  any  of ~tts 
provisions  are  deemed  unjust,  there  is  a  mode  prescribed  in  the 
instrument  itself  by  which  it  may  be  amended  ;  but  while  it  remains 
unaltered,  it  must  be  construed  now  as  it  was  understood  at  the  time 
of  its  adoption.  Any  other  rule  of  construction  would  abrogate  the 
judicial  character  of  this  Court,  and  make  it  the  mere  reflex  of  the 
popular  opinion  and  passion  of  the  day."  f 

Surely  these  extracts  show  plainly  that  the  phrase  in  question 
was  not  uttered  as  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  which  may  be  fairly 
inferred  to  be  the  reverse.  For  it  is  given  as  the  opinion  of  former 
times,  which  it  is  now  difficult  to  realize,  and  on  account  of  which 
the  race  is  styled  "  unfortunate."  An  Opinion,  almost  obsolete  and 
difficult  to  be  realized,  and  repudiated  in  its  effects,  cannot  have  been 
given  as  the  Opinion  of  the  Court ;  but  as  the  Court  itself  explains, 
historically,  and  therefore  needing  to  be  taken  into  the  account  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  formed  when  the  Opinion 
prevailed.  Indeed,  if  there  is  occasion  for  any  outcry  against  the 
expression  of  the  Court,  it  is  rather  for  a  Southern  than  a  Northern 
outcry,  if,  as  is  alleged,  the  South  maintain  the  old  opinion  still. 
For,  undoubtedly,  the  Court  intimate  that  the  present  state  of  public 
opinion  is  different,  and  would  require  a  different  interpretation  of 
the  Constitution  if  formed  at  this  day ;  whilst  yet  the  language  of 
seventy  years  ago  must  needs  be  interpreted  in  view  of  the  senti 
ments  prevailing  seventy  years  ago,  and  not  of  any  changed  senti- 

*  P.  407. 


129 

ment  prevailing  now,  even  though  entertained  by  the  Court.  The 
judgment  of  the  Court  is  not  declared  on  what  should  be  the  mean 
ing  of  the  language  employed,  but  what  must  have  been  the  mean 
ing  at  the  date  of  the  instrument  itself. 

Having  made  this  just  explanation  of  the  obnoxious  expression 
of  the  Court,  it  must  still  be  admitted  that  not  only  the  Court  but 
the  country,  not  only  the  South  but  the  North,  do  allow  to  the  freed 
African  something  less  than  full  Anglo-Saxon  citizenship,  with  all 
its  rights  and  privileges,  as  this  work  has  amply  asserted  and  illus 
trated.*  Nor  is  there  the  slightest  evidence  in  this  wide-spread 
outcry  to  the  contrary,  that  either  the  judgment  or  the  passions  of 
the  North  would  grant  to-day  the  very  boon  which  has  been  claimed 
so  loudly  and  so  widely  of  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  the  land. 
The  following  suppositions  may  aid  in  convincing  the  excited 
Northern  mind  that  it  claims  of  the  Court  more  than  itself  is  will 
ing  to  grant,  and  may  prepare  the  way  for  those  juster  views  of  the 
difficult  problem  of  Africa  in  America,  which  the  actual  case 
requires. 

Let,  then,  the  supposition,  which  we  have  made  for  another  pur 
pose,  —  viz.,  to  show  that  it  could  not  be  enforced  in  all  its  conse 
quences,  —  return  upon  us  with  this  change  —  that  it  shall  need  no 
enforcement  —  that  the  decision  of  the  Court,  giving  full  Anglo- 
Saxon  rights  and  privileges  to  Dred  Scott,  shall  have  free  course, 
with  equal  consent  of  the  North  and  of  the  South,  and  that  thou 
sands  and  tens  of  thousands  shall  receive  the  boon,  increasing  largely 
the  number  of  African  fellow-citizens :  — 

Let  it  be  supposed  further,  that  the  South  had  conceded  Kansas 
to  freedom,  and  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  had  been  unrepealed, 
and  the  line  of  36°  30'  preserved  as  the  fixed  boundary  between 
freedom  and  slavery ;  and  that,  in  order  to  provide  for  the  Southern 
free  Negroes,  now  rapidly  increasing,  there  had  been  established 
Southern  Emigrant  Aid  Societies  for  the  settlement  of  Free  Negroes 
in  Kansas,  choosing  the  most  eligible  portions  of  that  fertile  Terri 
tory,  and  giving  endowments  in  lands  and  equipments  to  the  whole 
free  black  population,  both  North  and  South,  and  that  under  these 
kindly  aids  there  should  be  an  emigration  by  hundreds  and 
thousands  :  — 

*  See  pp.  21,  22  ;  also,  pp.  80,  81,  82. 


130 

Let  it  be  supposed  further,  that  this  African  HOST,  ready  to  flood 
Kansas,  should  find  Kansas  too  narrow,  too  distant,  and  too  difficult, 
and  should  spread  themselves  over  the  States  "  north-west  of  the 
Ohio,"  and  even  over  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  England, 
as  part  and  parcel  of  the  English  race,  under  the  claim  decided  by 
the  Court,  of  Anglo-Saxon  freedom  and  citizenship,  as  the  gift  of 
the  Constitution :  — 

Let  these  suppositions  be  made  as  the  only  natural  suppositions 
in  the  case,  and  then  let  it  be  asked :  — 

"Will  these  hopeful  and  joyful  emigrants  find,  at  the  present  day, 
the  welcome  from  their  Anglo-Saxon  fellow-citizens,  which  the  pres 
ent  outcry  in  all  consistency  requires,  and  which  shall  make  their 
co-citizenship  a  blessing?  Those  fields  of  hope,  opened  to  them 
by  the  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  will 
they  be  found  opened  to  them  also,  by  the  hearty  good  will  of  the 
people  of  the  North,  instead  of  prohibitory  laws  and  penalties,  which 
shall  send  them  back  to  slavery,  or  make  their  liberty  a  curse  ? 

Or,  if  you  will,  rather  suppose,  in  all  consistency  with  the  benev 
olent  outcry  of  the  times,  that  they  shall  be  received  with  open 
heart  and  open  hand  as  the  moiety  of  Kansas,  and  in  large  propor 
tions  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
and  New  England,  how  then  stands  the  question  before  the  common 
sense  and  sound  judgment  of  the  North  ? 

Is  it  the  deliberate  judgment,  the  well-settled  conclusion  of 
Northern  philanthropists,  nay,  of  that  Northern  mass  now  con 
demning,  by  acclamation,  the  "  Decision  "  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
that  these  African  immigrants,  established  in  large  proportions,  as 
co-citizens,  with  full  Anglo-Saxon  immunities,  will  be  found  in  all 
respects  fitted  for  their  lot,  even  in  their  improved  state,  as  com 
pared  with  their  African  ancestry,  —  fitted  at  once  to  secure  their 
own  well-being  in  their  new  condition,  and  that  of  the  communities 
whose  franchises  and  opportunities  they  have  come  to  share  ? 

What  answer  does  the  actual  sentiment  of  the  present  day  make  ? 
"What  answer  do  the  Northern  settlers  of  Kansas  make  ?  "What 
answer  comes  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  ?  from  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  and  New  England  ?  Can  any  one  mistake  it  ?  Can 
any  one  question  what  would  be  the  outcry,  if  these  suppositions 
were  actually  imminent?  if  the  free  African  blood  were  even  now 
breaking  in  upon  the  hopes  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race?  —  The 


131 

Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  —  that  the  African  race,  though 
freed,  were  not  considered  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
in  the  Constitution,  as  entitled  to  all  the  franchises  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,,  and  that  those  instruments  of  our  own  freedom  cannot, 
in  view  of  the  sentiment  of  the  times  when  they  were  written,  be 
so  interpreted  as  to  require  it  now,  —  Would  this  Decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  be  welcomed  or  refused  in  Kansas  ?  in  Ohio,  Indi 
ana,  and  Illinois  ?  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  England  ? 
Amidst  that  incoming  flood  of  free  Negroes,  which  we  have  sup 
posed,  would  the  outcry  be  for  or  against  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  according  to  the  sentiment  of  the  times  when  it  was 
made  ?  for  or  against  the  practical  result  of  that  Decision  ?  Would 
the  flood  of  freed  Africans  be  welcomed  or  refused  by  the  present 
sentiment  of  the  North  ? 

There  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  answer.  Public 
opinion,  after  all,  has  not  so  entirely  changed,  as  the  Chief  Justice 
has  intimated  ;  and  this  "  unfortunate  race  "  is  not  admitted,  in  these 
times,  and  by  their  best  friends,  as  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  "  white  race,"  those  who  are  loudest  in  the  con 
demnation  of  the  Decision  of  the  Court,  themselves  being  witnesses. 
There  is  a  change,  and  a  blessed  one  thus  far,  viz.,  that  they  may 
not  "justly  and  lawfully  be  reduced  to  slavery  for  the  white  man's 
benefit."  But  where  are  the  classes  of  men  —  where  are  the  towns, 
and  counties,  and  states  that  are  ready  to  receive  them  as  they  find 
them  actually  among  us,  and  to  give  them  an  equal  share,  both  in 
numbers  and  immunities,  with  the  white  race  ? 

The  facts  are  as  glaring  as  the  noonday.  The  laws  which  have 
been  passed  and  enforced  by  the  States  most  exposed  to  large  pro 
portions  of  free  African  population,  and  the  reasons  given  for  those 
laws,  show  most  plainly  that  there  is  not  "  free  soil "  for  the  freed  Af 
rican  in  all  our  wide  America,  whatever  change  of  sentiment  has 
taken  place  as  to  the  right  of  enslaving.  In  truth,  with  but  the  minut 
est  exceptions,  every  body  thinks  —  every  town,  and  county,  and  state, 
North  as  well  as  South  —  that  the  African  race,  improved  though 
they  have  been  since  their  immigration,  are  not  entitled  to  be,  in 
large  numbers,  part  and  parcel  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ;  that 
they  are  not  raised  to  that  degree  of  civilization,  of  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization,  as  to  make  them  advantageously  to  themselves,  or  the 
whole  people,  parts  of  the  several  "  Englands  "  of  the  New  World ; 


132 

not  the  slaves  only  as  slaves,  but  the  free  Negroes  also  as  free 
Negroes. 

And  if  this  be  the  actual  opinion,  not  only  of  seventy  years  ago, 
but  now  ;  not  only  of  the  slave-holding"  South,  but  of  the  free  North 
also,  with  all  its  zeal  for  African  freedom ;  and  above  all,  if  there 
is  reason  for  it,  in  difference  of  origin,  and  race,  and  civilization, 
such  that  equal  rights  and  privileges,  where  the  proportion  is  large, 
would  be  for  the  advantage  of  neither  race,  what  then  is  the  con 
clusion  ?  We  may  deplore  the  existing  opinion,  if  the  opinion  be 
false  ;  we  may  deplore  the  facts,  if  the  opinion  be  just ;  we  may 
wish  that  the  "  unfortunate  race  "  had  never  been  landed  on  our 
shores,  and  please  ourselves  with  the  vision  of  America  with  a 
homogeneous  people  ;  but  after  our  deplorings  and  our  visions,  the 
opinions  and  the  facts  remain  ;  and  it  is  just  as  true  that  there  is 
repulsion  at  the  North,  refusing  "  free  soil "  to  the  African,  as  that 
there  is  slavery  at  the  South  —  that  "  free  soil "  for  the  African 
race  is  not  a  Northern,  as  that  "  slavery"  is  a  Southern 'institution  ; 
and  the  question  returns  —  What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  ? 

Is  it  to  deny  all  rights  whatever,  not  only  to  the  enslaved  but  to 
the  freed  African  ?  to  deny  all  the  claims  of  humanity  and  justice 
to  the  entire  race  ?  Is  it  not  rather  for  the  North  and  the  South  to 
unite  in  the  methods  best  suited  to  the  actual  case  —  not  authorita 
tively  on  either  hand,  but  fraternally ;  to  take  the  more  pains,  to 
make  the  more  careful  arrangement,  and  to  be  the  more  watchful 
that  every  immunity  due  to  the  actual  facts,  shall  be  made  sure ; 
that  every  claim  of  humanity  and  justice  shall  be  fulfilled,  both  to 
bond  and  free  ? 

This,  certainly,  is  the  honest  and  earnest  purpose  of  this  work ; 
—  uniting  the  North  and  the  South,  it  aims  to  give  to  the  slaves 
something  better  than  the  freedom  so  earnestly  claimed  for  them, 
and  to  the  free  Negroes  something  better  than  they  would  find  at 
the  North,  if  they  should  come  crowding  into  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  meeting  the  humanity  and 
justice  which  they  would  find  in  Kansas ;  in  Illinois ;  Indiana,  and 
Ohio;  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  England.  In  our 
"  Suggestions  for  a  Remedial  Code,"  we  have  proposed  rights  to  be 
acknowledged  for  the  slaves,  and  methods  for  obtaining,  securing, 
and  recovering  those  rights.  We  have  suggested  also,*  "  Methods 

*  Chap,  xiii.,  sect.  8. 


133 

for  the  free,"  certainly  with  something  less  than  full  Anglo-Saxon 
immunities,  wherever  large  proportions  are  supposable  —  on  those 
reasonable  grounds  on  which  none  act  more  decidedly  than  the  anti- 
slavery  North.  Whatever  be  the  just  immunities  for  bond  or  free, 
they  are  all  to  be  the  more  carefully  provided  for,  in  view  of  the 
actual  disabilities  attaching  to  the  race,  with  all  facilities  afforded  for 
every  desirable  advancement,  and  all  securities  for  such  immunities 
as  may  be  allowed. 

This  admission  to  certain  immunities,  and  not  to  all,  required  by 
the  peculiar  characteristics  and  relations  of  the  two  races,  is  not 
without  a  parallel  and  illustration  in  the  history  of  our  forefathers, 
when  there  was  not  the  superadded  difficulty  of  a  population  so 
remarkably  differing  in  race.  You  may  require  Magna  Charta  to 
complete  itself  instantly  by  giving  to  the  "  serfs  "  all  the  immunities 
of  the  barons  of  England,  but  you  cannot  instantly  dispense  with 
the  "  serfdom,"  which  is  the  actual  arrangement  for  the  necessities 
of  the  serfs,  as  well  as  for  the  fuller  provisions  for  their  lords  ;  but 
you  may  secure  all  the  immunities  as  well  as  obligations  suitable  to 
the  actual  conditions  of  both.  You  may  require  the  Bill  of  Rights 
to  give  full  suffrage  to  every  inhabitant  of  the  British  Isles,  and 
such  confiscations  and  distributions  as  shall  equalize  the  condition 
of  nobles,  commons,  peasantry,  but  you  cannot  instantly  give  the 
capabilities  and  the  habits  of  useful  franchise  and  economical  pos 
session,  which  shall  make  these  immunities  a  boon  to  the  unac 
customed  mass.  Or,  to  meet  existing  evils,  you  may  require 
instantaneous  relief  and  comfort  for  all  the  cotton  mills  and  mines 
of  England ;  to  abolish,  at  a  stroke,  the  whole  system  of  their  labor ; 
but  you  cannot  instantly  furnish  the  indispensable  substitute  for  the 
method  by  which  the  laborers  are  provided  for,  and  the  manufac 
tures  of  cotton  and  iron  furnished  for  the  wants  of  millions,  the 
wide  world  over.  In  all  these  cases  you  might  have  done  and  may 
do  more  to  diminish  the  evil,  and  increase  the  good  ;  and  this  is  the 
proper  field  for  your  benevolent  wisdom. 

In  like  manner,  and  with  more  reason,  where  the  population  is  not 
homogeneous,  and  where  there  is  an  actual  repulsion  between  the 
more  and  the  less  advanced  in  civilization,  by  prejudice  or  with 
reason,  you  are  bound  to  give  such  immunities  as  are  suited  to  the 
case,  with  the  more  earnestness  and  pains,  because  you  cannot  give 
all  the  immunities  of  Anglo-Saxon  citizenship.  You  may  require, 
12 


134 

instead,  slavery  to  be  instantly  abolished,  labor  to  be  free  over  all 
the  cotton  and  sugar  fields  of  the  South,  but  you  cannot  abolish, 
we  do  not  say  the  wants  of  the  whole  world  depending  on  those 
fields,  but  you  cannot  abolish  the  wants  of  the  slaves  provided  for 
by  the  present  system  of  labor,  and  instantly  establish  an  adequate 
substitute,  nor  instantly  abolish  that  terrible  repulsion,  with  and 
without  reason,  which  forbids  them  to  earn  their  bread  in  the  whole 
"  free  soil "  of  the  North.  The  cry  so  common  of  late,  "  The  world 
must  have  cotton  and  sugar,"  regards  but  one  part  of  the  case. 
The  men  who  now  cultivate  the  cotton  and  the  sugar  must  have 
bread,  —  must  not  find  the  existing  system  of  labor  broken  up, 
without  some  sufficient  substitute,  —  is  the  other  part.  "  Laborers 
must  be  imported  —  the  peasantry  of  Europe,  '  Coolies '  from  the 
East,  that  the  world  may  be  supplied  with  cotton  and  sugar ; "  but 
this  is  but  part  of  the  case.  On  the  other  hand,  the  laborers  of 
Europe  and  Asia  must  not  be  brought  in  to  supply  every  body  else 
with  cotton  and  sugar,  to  the  lack  of  the  very  means  of  life,  of 
bread  itself,  to  the  Africans  now  laboring  the  soil  for  themselves, 
more  absolutely  than  for  the  whole  world  beside.  The  labor  so 
eagerly  sought  for,  to  supply  the  lack  where  slavery  has  been  abol 
ished,  and  where  it  is.  proposed  to  abolish  it,  how  much  better  is  it 
provided  for  by  the  methods  of  this  work,  —  not  by  discharging  the 
laborers  who  now  have  their  claim  on  capital  and  land,  but  by  re 
taining  them,  with  whatever  bad  bonds  loosed,  with  whatever  good 
bonds  added  or  retained.  "  Cotton  is  king."  Be  it  so,  and  let 
cotton  reign  for  the  benefit  of  the  wide  world,  neither  by  perpetuating 
abuses  and  wrong,  nor  by  displacing  African  by  European  and 
Asiatic  labor,  and  driving  it  from  the  South  upon  the  unwilling  and 
repelling  North,  but  under  the  MAGNA  CHABTA  of  African  well- 
being. 

It  is  the  aim  of  this  work  to  promote  such  legislation  and  such 
judicial  privileges  for  this  present  time,  and  for  an  indefinite  future, 
as  are  fitted  to  the  actual  condition  of  the  African  race,  whether 
bond  or  free ;  aiming  so  high  in  regard  to  slavery,  that  it  might  be 
called  a  regulated  freedom,  and  yet  so  retaining  all  advantageous 
restraints,  that  it  should  still  be  an  ameliorated  slavery  ;  something 
"  better  than  freedom  "  for  the  slave,  "  something  better  than  slavery 
as  it  is,"  for  the  master,  with  all  desirable  facilities  for  individual 
freedom  ;  and  for  the  freed  such  immunities  and  privileges  as  shall 


135 

be  for  the  actual  benefit  of  both  races,  with  all  encouragement  and 
aid  for  the  fullest  enfranchisement  in  "  America  in  Africa,"  now 
opening  her  arms  to  receive  them. 

In  truth,  there  is  but  one  practicable  way,  and  there  can  be  no 
other,  in  the  mysterious  relations  of  the  two  races  in  our  land,  —  the 
method  of  retaining  good  bonds  only,  and  of  loosing  only  the  bad,  — 
the  method  of  well-being.  The  suggestions  made  in  this  work  may- 
require  variation,  the  details  may  be  improved  by  knowledge  and 
experience  ;  but  the  principles  and  the  substantial  method  are  as 
certain  as  truth,  and  sooner  or  later  must  prevail,  if  Africa  in  Amer 
ica,  or  America  in  Africa,  are  to  share  the  blessings  of  the  Christian 
world.  Amidst  all  the  denunciations  of  existing  facts,  the  strifes  of 
Christian  philanthropy,  the  divisions  which  have  resulted  from  sec 
tional  contention,  and  the  sectional  contentions  threatening  still  fur 
ther  divisions  into  churches  North  and  churches  South,  benevolent 
societies  North  and  benevolent  societies  South,  what  other  method 
is  practicable  ?  Nay,  amidst  these  earnest  debates,  as  aimless  as 
earnest,  what  clear  and  distinct  proposal  is  made  ?  What  other 
daylight  dawns  upon  the  night  of  our  perplexity  ?  Who  will  tell  us, 
not  of  any  thing  better,  but  of  any  thing  else  that  can  be  done,  not 
only  with  but  for  the  mass,  the  millions  in  our  land  ? 

Shall  they  be  set  free,  with  full  liberty  to  flood  the  North  ?  Alas !  it 
is  one  thing  to  denounce  slavery,  and  another  tiling  to  receive  the 
freed  slaves  with  mutual  advantage ;  one  thing  to  keep  up  an  outcry 
against  the  "  peculiar  institution  "  of  the  South,  and  another  to  ac 
cept  multitudes  of  African  freemen  as  the  new  "  institution  "  of  the 
North.  It  is  one  thing  to  pass  a  few  fugitive  slaves  through  and 
beyond  your  State  on  the  "  Underground  Railroad,"  and  another 
thing  to  receive  crowding  multitudes  to  your  houses  and  lands,  to 
share  favorably  or  not,  for  them  as  well  as  yourselves,  all  the  oppor 
tunities  of  enterprise  and  livelihood  with  your  families,  if  it  be  not 
rather  to  live  upon  your  scanty  charities,  or  be  absolutely  repelled 
by  your  electrical  touch. 

Or  shall  they  be  set  free  and  kept  South  ?  —  free,  and  yet  not 
free  —  emancipated  into  bondage  —  obliged  to  stay  under  disadvan 
tages  which  they  feel,  and  forbidden  to  go  to  the  advantages  which 
seem  to  them  so  great ;  with  no  claim  upon  capital  where  they  are, 
and  no  liberty  to  seek  employment  among  the  friends  of  whom  they 
have  heard  so  much  ?  And  shall  Southern  capital  be  compelled  to 


136 

maintain  them  after  that  disorganization  of  existing  arrangements 
which  forbids  them  at  once  to  compel  labor,  and  to  compel  from  the 
ground  the  means  of  sustaining  labor,  when  itself  shall  cease  to  be 
"  capital,"  and  to  have  any  power  of  sustaining  masses  more  miser 
able  than  homogeneous  Europe  has  been  able  to  show  ? 

Or,  yielding  to  the  South  its  providential  and  constitutional  right 
to  retain  slavery  where  it  is,  but  claiming  both  right  and  power  to 
forbid  its  extension,  will  you  restrain  it  within  its  present  limits,  and 
forbid  its  existence  over  your  whole  wide,  unsettled  domain  ?  Ad 
mit,  contrary  to  the  arguments  of  this  work,  that  you  can  do  it,  are 
you  prepared  for  the  method  you  adopt  ?  —  for  the  results  of  that 
embarrassment  with  slavery,  and  the  enforced  freedom  which  you 
expect  at  the  South  when  the  outlet  ceases,  when,  as  you  predict, 
slavery  shall  cease  because  it  can  no  longer  subist>  on  its  worn-out 
fields,  and  the  doomed  South  shall  be  free  of  its  capital  and  labor, 
of  its  masters  and  its  slaves,  and  the  pent  up  flood  shall  at  length 
burst  its  barriers,  and  roll  over  your  "  free  soil "  in  distresses  and 
numbers  beyond  your  provision  and  control.  The  very  issues  you 
predict,  would  you  be  ready  to  meet  them  now,  or  are  you  willing 
to  entail  them  upon  those  who  shall  come  after  you  ? 

If,  then,  the  South  cannot  keep  them  save  by  means  of  labor  to 
employ  "  capital  "  and  capital  to  employ  labor ;  if  the  North  will  not 
receive  them  when  made  free  according  to  its  call,  but  only  repels 
them,  what  else  can  be  done  but  for  North  and  South  to  unite  in 
promoting  their  well-being  ?  Who  can  forbid  the  assumption,  bold 
as  it  is,  There  is  this  way,  and  there  is  no  other  ?  The  assumption 
must  abide  its  time,  and  will  prove  itself  vain  unless  it  is  founded  in 
reason  and  truth,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  in  the  relations  of  men, 
in  the  wisdom  of  Providence,  in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and 
in  the  best  hopes  for  time  and  eternity  proffered  to  every  race  and 
condition  of  men.  The  writer  believes  that  his  work  will  stand  this 
test ;  that  its  principles  and  methods  will  more  and  more  commend 
themselves  to  the  minds  of  men  by  their  intrinsic  merits  prior  to 
experience,  and  will  more  and  more  gain  ground  by  their  adapta 
tion  to  the  actual  case  and  to  new  emergencies,  by  the  impossibilities 
which  will  arrest  every  other  attempt,  and  by  the  facilities  which 
will  be  found  in  that  which  is  as  true  and  right  as  it  is  practicable 
and  fitting.  To  the  writer,  the  principles  and  methods  of  this  work 
seem  to  have  the  certainty  of  science ;  to  be  axiomatic  and  consecu- 


137 

tive  in  the  highest  degree ;  to  be  as  sure  as  the  truths  of  Christian 
good  will  and  the  certainties  of  Providence  above  the  devices  and 
powers  of  men.  They  may  be  questioned,  refused,  denounced,  but 
are  sure  to  prevail,  whether  by  wise  anticipation  or  bitter  and  pro 
longed  experience.  Dream  what  we  may,  devise,  attempt  what  we 
may,  question,  refuse,  denounce  what  we  may,  There  is  this  way,  and 
there  is  no  other. 

As  to  the  difficulty,  whether  of  engaging  the  South  in  the  work 
of  amelioration,  or  uniting  the  North  in  the  only  position  for  frater 
nal  aids,  —  the  latter,  it  may  be,  greater  than  the  former,  —  we 
return  to  the  assurance  of  our  Preface  of  1856  —  THE  THINGS 

WHICH  ARE  IMPOSSIBLE    WITH   MAN   ARE   POSSIBLE    WITH    GOD. 
12* 


. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


16Dec.r9RH§ 


JAN 


6  1960 


22Mar'6lUT 


*n 


m 


161 

QIC  20  *66       R 


JON    3  W67  7  7 


Fffi  0  6  1999 


Berkeley 


YC  50649 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


